


Strange Magic

by LilithDuh



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Madam Spellman - Freeform, Slow Burn Zelda Spellman/Mary Wardwell | Madam Satan | Lilith, Top Mary Wardwell | Madam Satan | Lilith, Zelda Spellman is Bad at Feelings, Zelda Spellman/Madam Satan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-09-23 20:20:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 35,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20346133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilithDuh/pseuds/LilithDuh
Summary: Mary Wardwell is back from the dead and Lilith is the queen of hell. The only problem is Zelda. What do Mary and Lilith do with their favorite red head now?As Zelda gets sucked into planning the fall dance with Mary Wardwell she must navigate a new friendship, all while navigating a new religion.





	1. Chapter 1

Mary Wardwell bit the corner of her bottom lip as she spotted the redhead across the book store; it was the third day in a row she'd seen her in town. Lord, life felt weird lately.

First, there was the question of time. How on earth had she lost so much time with absolutely no recollection of what had happened? Then, there was of course her fiancée, or, lack thereof. Where was Adam? And then there was the question of this red headed woman who seemed hauntingly familiar but whom she could not place if her life depended on it. Was she attached to one her students somehow? She couldn't shake the feeling that this woman meant something but what she could not determine. 

As Mary turned the corner down an aisle, still distracted from her sighting, she nearly ran face first into Sabrina Spellman, dropping the stack of books in her arms as she narrowly avoided the young woman. 

"Oh, Sabrina, you startled me, I'm so sorry," she muttered as she bent down to gather the discarded novels, pushing her glasses back up her nose with one finger as she worked.

"Oh Lili-Ms. Wardwell!" Sabrina beamed as she, too, bent down to help her favorite teacher, "it's so good to see you again. How are you feeling?" 

Mary took note of the difference in Sabrina's appearance as she finally looked up from the floor and met her student's earnest gaze. Her hair was so much more blonde, and her eyes seemed just the slightest bit darker. Honestly, what on earth was going on? How many months couldn't she remember? How much had changed, and why? 

"I'm uh, I am feeling a bit better yes, thank you for asking Sabrina," she smiled politely as she rebalanced the stack of books in her arms and stood back up, glancing back down the aisle at the mysterious redhead who was still standing at the counter chatting with the equally familiar looking blonde at the till. "Say Sabrina... you wouldn't happen to know who the women at the register are, would you? Particularly the red headed woman?"

"Oh," Sabrina smiled as she followed behind her teacher, headed in the direction of the register, "yea those are my aunties, Hilda and Zelda."

Mary felt a curious warmth in the pit of her stomach at the mention of Zelda's name, as if the woman had meant something to her at some point, but she couldn't fathom why. She was absolutely positive she'd never so much as said hello to Sabrina's aunts before. Of course she knew they ran the local mortuary; everyone knew that, but she'd never had any cause to deal with them. 

"I see..." she muttered, mostly to herself, as she neared the space Sabrina's aunts occupied. Dr. Cerberus' cafe and bookshop was not a particularly large venue so it did not take them long to reach the register. "Say Sabrina, would you like to sit and grab a soda before I head back to my office? Perhaps you can answer a couple of questions for me."

She knew it was somewhat inappropriate to ask a student, but for some strange reason Mary trusted Sabrina and knew she would tell her the truth. Beyond that, she knew that her questions wouldn't go anywhere. 

"Of course, Miss Wardwell, I'd really like that," Sabrina beamed as she moved closer to her Aunt Zelda, "I've... missed you."

Zelda stiffened at the sound of Mary Wardwell's voice behind her in conversation with her niece. She felt as if all the air had been drawn out of the room. She hadn't laid eyes on the woman since Lilith's return to hell. She preferred it that way; after all, Lilith and Mary were not, in fact, one in the same, but that didn't make the missing her any easier. Lilith had looked the part of Mary Wardwell for the better part of a year, and Zelda had grown awfully fond of the woman's body, if not her heart and mind. If she were being honest with herself, she didn't want to see Mary Wardwell. Ever. Part of her wished that Lilith had left her dead. Zelda took a deep breath before she turned around, unsure exactly of what seeing Mary would do to her. 

Finally, she did turn around, and painted a pleasant, closed lip smile on her face. 

"Sabrina, I thought that was you," she said politely, "and who do we have here?"

"Auntie," Sabrina said carefully, unsure of how to navigate, "this is Ms. Wardwell, my... my old teacher? She's our principal now."

Zelda felt her heart race and her breath hitch in her chest as Mary flashed her bright blue eyes at her and smiled. Gone was the deep red lipstick she'd grown accustomed to with Lilith and her thick, black hair was pinned back in a neat bun, but it was still.... difficult to see her. "It's a uh, a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Wardwell," Zelda stuttered as she extended a hand, "Sabrina has said many wonderful things about you."

Zelda's blood ran cold as Mary took her hand and squeezed it firmly, smiling back at her. "The pleasure is mine, Ms. Spellman. What a lovely young woman you and your sister Hilda have raised, and now I see where she gets it." Zelda hesitated to let her go. Mary felt it too; the spark in her veins and the longing in the pit of her stomach. She wasn't sure how or why, but this woman was not a stranger to her. 

"How very kind of you," Zelda smiled as she let her fingers linger over Mary's a little too long before she caught herself and snapped her hand back, quickly folding both her hands behind her torso. 

"Well I uh, I must be going. Academy things to attend to," she muttered before she excused herself quickly, darting out the door before anyone could see the tears forming on her eyelids. She refused to cry over Mary. She refused to give that satisfaction to Lilith. 

Mary blinked her eyes a few times and licked her lips then silently paid for her books, not offering to introduce herself to Hilda. She felt unsettled by her interaction with Zelda; the introduction had left her with far more questions than answers. 

"Well, now, shall we grab a table?" She asked politely as she turned to Sabrina and smiled, trying her best not to look alarmed.

Sabrina nodded and followed her teacher to the booths in the store, taking a seat across from her. "You look bothered, Miss Wardwell, are you sure you're alright?"

Mary thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. "I... well no, Sabrina, I'm not entirely sure. If I ask you something, will you please keep it between us?"

Sabrina felt the guilt rising in the pit of her stomach as she watched her teacher carefully, knowing that what had happened to Ms. Wardwell was her fault. If the dark lord hadn't wanted her for his pawn she never would have been killed and resurrected. "Of course Ms. Wardwell, I promise."

"Sabrina," Mary whispered, leaning closer in to the girl across from her, "I... what month is it? And what happened to the principal? How did I become the principal?"

"Well, he, you- I...." Sabrina didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure how she could talk herself out of this one. "He resigned? I think. I'm not sure. But you do so much for the school, and you volunteered? Yea. I think you volunteered? You know, Ms. Wardwell, I've been so busy with some of my.... after school activities that I just haven't been paying that much attention!"

It wasn't that Sabrina necessarily wanted to lie to Ms. Wardwell, but what could she do? It's not like she could tell the woman she'd been murdered and taken over by Satan's handmaiden herself only to wreak havoc on their whole town, fall in love with her aunt, run their school... could she? Even if she could get the words out, who in their right mind would believe a story like that? 

"You know if you'd like to come over for dinner, or something like that, my aunties have been volunteering at the school a lot and they could maybe fill you in better?" Sabrina thought it was a brilliant idea. It would give her aunt a chance to see Mary again and it might give them a chance to do something with her memory; either fix it or wipe it or at least do something with it so she'd stop asking so many questions. 

Mary rose an eyebrow as she thought about the idea. If she went to Sabrina's for dinner it would give her a chance to have another interaction with that peculiar Zelda. Maybe then she could figure out how they really knew one another. 

"That sounds lovely, Sabrina. You just let me know when might work for your aunties. Now I suppose I must be off. Thank you for sitting down with me."

"Any time, Ms. Wardwell. Any time." Sabrina smiled and waved as she watched her teacher stand and quickly depart the book store, rushing down the street in the direction of the high school. 

Dear Lilith, what was she about to get her family in to with this woman?


	2. Chapter 2

"You did WHAT? You told her... you invited her?" Zelda paced the length of the kitchen, a lit cigarette dangling off the tip of her fingers in its holder as she processed the information her niece had just given her. Sabrina had invited Mary Wardwell into their home. 

What in Lilith's name was she going to do for an entire evening with Mary Wardwell when she couldn't even get through five minutes in a public place with the woman? Honestly, how ignorant and shallow minded could her niece be?

"I can... tell her we're busy... that something has come up. We have too many bodies?" Sabrina shrank at the tone of her aunt's voice. She knew she'd crossed a line in inviting Mary over, but what else could she do? The woman wanted explanations and she didn't have them. She needed her aunt's help in dealing with her memory. 

"Oh for Lilith's sake, Sabrina, we cannot uninvite someone whom you have already invited," Zelda snapped before she took a long drag off her cigarette and brushed her hair out of her face, "we will have her over for dinner tomorrow evening. We will make it as fast a meal as possible, restore her memory as if she'd been here the last nine months, and send her on her merry, dreadful little way. No dawdling, no extra mindless chatter, do you understand me? I do not want this woman in our house any longer than she must stay."

"I.... understand Aunt Zelda," Sabrina muttered sadly, thinking of how often Mary Wardwell had frequented their home not so long ago. "It's just so weird, Aunt Zelda. I got so used to her being here."

Zelda closed her eyes as she turned her back to her niece, the thought of Lilith and Mary and her time in their home cutting straight through her. "Please, Sabrina. That is over. There is no need to make mention of it now. We are all.... foolish at one time or another."

"Aunt Zee?" Sabrina muttered as she watched her aunt carefully, wishing she wouldn't be so unnecessarily hard, "did you love her? Lilith or... Mary or, however you saw her?"

Zelda pondered the question for a moment, thoughts of the woman nearly stealing her breath, then sighed. "I've not got the time for such silly questions, Sabrina. It's late. Lilith is our dark queen, and Mary is a stranger. There is no room for love there, my foolish child. Now go to bed."

Zelda turned on her heel, but before she walked away she placed a gentle kiss on Sabrina's forehead, indicating that she was not mad at her niece; rather, she was touched by the gentle question. Of course she had loved Lilith. Of course it was foolish. The two, sadly, were not mutually exclusive. 

Now, however, her only job was to lead a coven into the pious worship of Lilith. There would be no room for the kind of love they'd experienced, and Lilith would not abide her finding that love with a mortal in Mary Wardwell. 

No, Zelda must make the ultimate sacrifice for her queen, whether or not she wanted to. 

And now, thanks to her ever dim witted niece, she must also entertain Mary. How could Sabrina be so stupid and thoughtless? Zelda rolled her eyes as she ascended the steps to her bedroom. Praise Lilith that Hilda was off at the bookstore and she could have a moment alone. She knew she should pray, but all she really want to do was curse her lover.

Silently, Zelda got on her knees and bowed her head, her eyes closed. "Lilith, my queen...." she muttered, feeling positively ridiculous. 

"Damn it Lilith," she sighed, opening her eyes as the tears formed in the corners of her ducts. How could she pray when she felt so stupid? How could she worship something she was so angry with? 

"How could you? How could you do this knowing this was your plan?" 

Zelda scolded the air angrily as she stood and unzipped her dress and tossed it on the end of her bed, stripping down to nothing but her black bra and panties, searching for a long nightgown in her closet. 

"Why Lilith? Why on earth would you bring that woman back? So I have to look at her every day? So I must be reminded of everything that I cannot have?" 

Zelda knew she was working herself up as the tears streamed down her cheeks, but she didn't care. She was angry. She wanted to scream and throw things and yell at Lilith, not praise her in adoration and obedience. She tugged the straps of her bra off her shoulders and unhooked the contraption with one hand, then tossed it on the bed with her dress and slid her silk night gown over her head. How many times had she worn that gown to please her sweet Lilith? How many times had the woman stripped it off of her body? 

Zelda exhaled loudly and tugged the gown back off, opting instead for a simpler, softer gown that had less memories attached to it. She quickly tied her robe around her body and wiped the tears from her cheeks, angry with herself for being emotional again. 

"You're no better than him, Lilith. You are jealous and vengeful. You are hateful and spiteful and hurtful," she muttered as she discarded the pile of clothes in the hamper in her closet and crawled into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin.

"Curse you, Lilith. Curse you and that damn Mary Wardwell."

Zelda closed her eyes as tightly as she could, already feeling guilty about her outburst. Yes, she was a lover scorned, but she was first and foremost a pious, religious woman and she had just cursed her highest deity. She wasn't exactly expecting Lilith to crawl out of the ground and smite her, but she needed to get a handle on her emotions as soon as possible. 

She had to remember that Lilith in her human form was subject to the weakness of the flesh but she was no longer subject to such base and humiliating tendencies. It was Zelda's responsibility to elevate herself to a better standard of behavior, not the other way around. Still, she'd give anything for one more evening with Lilith in her human form. 

As Zelda drifted off to sleep she could feel an outline of warmth surround her, almost comforting her. She knew it was the three highball glasses of scotch she'd downed when Sabrina told her Mary Wardwell would be joining them for dinner tomorrow night, but she liked to think, in her half asleep state of mind, that it was her beloved Lilith come to escort her to the beyond for the evening. If they couldn't be together in this world, at least they could there.


	3. Chapter 3

Mary Wardwell held the blueberry pie firmly in one arm as she knocked on the door of the Spellman Mortuary, a cold chill running up the length of her spine. She found the mortuary a little creepy if she was being honest, but also a little fascinating. There was something dark and cold about the property, something otherworldly and foreign but also something deeply familiar and... heartwarming, almost. 

Mary nearly jumped out of her skin as the front door swung open and pulled her out of her thoughts, Zelda Spellman standing before her in a beautifully form fitting, black lace dress. The woman was positively spellbinding. 

"Good evening, Ms. Spellman, thank you so much for having me over," she smiled politely, trying to ignore the lump forming in her throat. She didn't understand the unholy power this woman had over her. It had never happened that way with another woman before. 

Zelda nodded curtly and moved aside to allow Mary access to her home, careful not to touch her as she invited her inside. "Of course, Ms. Wardwell," she managed to choke out as felt the warmth of the woman brush by her, wishing she could reach out and touch her as she entered the house, "May I take your coat?"

"Oh, uh," Mary smiled awkwardly, looking for a place to set the pie down, "might you have a place where I can set this? I wasn't sure if I should bring something..." 

Zelda appreciated the effort, surprised by the stranger's sweetness, wishing she could kiss her on the cheek to thank her. How bizarre it felt to see her lover's form and know that it wasn't her. "Ah, I'll take it," Zelda did her best to smile as she held out a hand to take the pie, then offered the other to take her coat. 

She could feel the tension building in her chest as she stared at Mary, her slender form revealing itself as she slipped out of her wool cape. She didn't dress the same as Lilith; gone were the form fitting dresses, replaced instead by a well tailored blouse and flared skirt. Still, Zelda let her eyes wander over Mary's collar bone and down her waist before she caught herself. "That's a uh- I like your- brooch," Zelda stuttered as Mary caught her and cleared her throat.

"Oh, thank you," she smiled politely, "it was my grandmother's." Mary pushed her glasses up her nose and pursed her lips, waiting to be taken to the dining room and join the rest of the family. This interaction with Zelda was positively awkward, but what could she do? The woman was more than a little off kilter, but then Sabrina was a little strange herself. She'd expect no less from the women who raised her.

Zelda felt a bead of sweat escape down the back of her dress and she cursed Lilith under her breath. Just then, Mary flashed her bright blue eyes at her, a knowing look, and it was as if her former lover had inhabited her body for just a split second. Lilith was toying with her. How unfair- for both her and Mary. 

"Right this way, Ms. Wardwell, my family is in the other room. We're delighted you could join us for the evening.... Sabrina says you're enjoying your new position as principal?" Like hell Zelda would let Lilith take over this poor woman again. Toy with her, fine, but Zelda first and foremost had a strong sense of justice and Mary Wardwell didn't deserve any more interruption in her life. 

"I am enjoying it, I suppose," Mary laughed awkwardly as she followed down the hallway to the dining room, taking in the dark spirit of the home. "I'm still not sure quite how I gained the post but I suppose some things just aren't meant to be questioned."

Zelda imagined Lilith's hands on her hips as they sauntered down the hallway. How many times had Lilith embraced her, pushed her against these walls when her family wasn't home? How many times had she brought her to exquisite ecstasy in this very spot? Zelda coughed quietly and kept walking, aching to feel the woman's arms around her again. "I suppose not. Sabrina was quite thrilled to learn you'd be principal, however. You're a much better choice than that dreadful man they had before."

Mary smirked at the thought of the old principal and his many unwanted advances as they cleared the kitchen, and then the dining room, the Spellman family coming into view. 

"Ms. Wardwell!" Sabrina beamed and stood to greet her, the sight familiar. Mary couldn't help but feel as if she'd been here before; a thousand memories of meals and cocktails and.... other things flooding her mind at once. A haze of embraces and passion took hold of her and for a moment she thought she'd lose herself. She quietly gripped the edge of the table, moving closer to Zelda, the thoughts leaving her head as quickly as they had entered. 

"Sabrina, how lovely to see you, my dear," she did her best to smile as she swallowed hard. Mary reached one hand behind Zelda and grabbed her arm to steady herself, not thinking of her actions. It came automatically to her, the act of touching this woman to keep her grounded. Zelda took a sharp breath in but reached behind herself anyway, tangling her hand in Mary's to hold her up. She was worried this would happen; that the memories wouldn't entirely leave the woman. 

"Mary, its alright," Zelda reassured her as she squeezed her hand, then let it go, feeling as though she'd been burned. She couldn't bear to touch her any longer than she had. 

Hilda watched her sister carefully, knowing how much pain she was in. "Ms. Wardwell can I offer you a glass of wine?" She asked, chipper, trying to dispel the mood and her sister's suffering. 

"I.... yes, please, that would be lovely," Mary nodded, not taking her eyes off the back of Zelda's head. Zelda felt her intense stare but couldn't bring herself to turn around. Perhaps the two of them should speak alone. Perhaps she should just take the woman upstairs and solve this once and for all. But she couldn't trust herself alone with Mary; especially not if the woman remembered anything. Lilith was a jealous lover and she wouldn't have it, Zelda knew that, and she wouldn't risk yet another life in the midst of this disaster because she was selfish. Mary Wardwell hadn't asked to be a part of any of this; she'd simply been caught in the midst of a bad moon rising. 

"Ms. Wardwell," Zelda finally spoke, remembering her manners as she turned to face the woman, pretending as if the last few moments hadn't happened, "I hope you like.... lamb. We've made rack of lamb for dinner. But if, of course, you're a vegetarian then Sabrina has also prepared a lovely salad. Why don't we all sit down to eat?"

Mary stared Zelda straight in the eye, searching for an answer. She couldn't so easily forget what had just happened. "Actually Ms. Spellman if you will show me to the wash room I think I'd like to freshen up. I'm feeling a bit.... faint."

Zelda knew that it was Lilith the moment she spoke; Mary's voice dropped half an octave when she was possessed by the demon mother. Her heart sank, but she nodded and turned to show Mary out of the room. Why was Lilith doing this? As soon as they had cleared the kitchen, Zelda felt her absence. Lilith had left. She simply wanted to get Mary and Zelda alone. 

"The wash room is to the right of the stairs, just down the hall," Zelda motioned down the hall with one slender finger, smiling sadly at the petite woman in front of her. Mary looked confused. She hadn't asked Zelda for the wash room, but she nodded anyway. 

"Ms. Spellman is it.... is it just me or have we? Have we met before?" Mary asked quietly as she stood a little too close to Zelda, her hands threatening to intertwine with the redhead's again. She could feel her heart practically beating out of her chest. Something about being this close to Zelda felt dangerous and intoxicating. Zelda backed herself against the wall, Mary inching herself closer to the woman as she awaited a response. It was like a magnet; something drew her into Zelda. She couldn't help herself. She had to be near the woman. 

"We... have not, Ms. Wardwell. You must have me mistaken with someone else," Zelda lied, her heart practically snapping under the pressure. "I uh... if you'll excuse me, I should get back to the kitchen. I trust you can find your way back to me Ms. Wardwell."

Zelda turned on her heel and left Mary in the hallway. She couldn't be close to the woman. She had to make sure she never saw her again. 

"You'll all have to excuse me. Hilda, you'll have to handle this. Wipe her memory and get her out of our house," Zelda muttered into the expanse of the kitchen at her family, then rushed out of the room and up the stairs to her bedroom, slamming the door and locking it. 

Zelda wouldn't hit her knees and pray. She wouldn't flog herself. She wouldn't pray to an unholy goddess who dared manipulate her the way the dark lord did. 

Instead, she sat. She sat and she thought about the lovely raven haired woman in her kitchen who had the face of her lover and the heart of someone far more impeccable. A mortal. 

Could Zelda Spellman be capable of loving a mortal?


	4. Chapter 4

"Wait." Mary Wardwell commanded the table, stopping Hilda in her tracks before she had the opportunity to wipe her memory. Perhaps it was Mary, perhaps it was Lilith, perhaps it was a little bit of both. The Spellman family, after all, had underestimated the mortal woman all evening long. They'd underestimated what she'd remembered and what she was capable of.

"I understand that Zelda isn't feeling well, but... before you do whatever it is you're about to do, I must see her, please," Mary pleaded with Hilda, appealing to her soft side, "if it were you, would you want all of your memories with Dr. Cerberus wiped? Please. Let me see her, then you can do with me whatever you would like."

Hilda considered the situation for a moment, then nodded. "If... if you can find Zelda, you may have a moment alone with her, Ms. Wardwell."

Mary nodded before she set her napkin on the table beside her plate and excused herself, heading straight for Zelda's bedroom. She wasn't entirely sure of how she knew the location of the woman's room, but she wasn't willing to question it either. All she knew for sure was that she must see her. She hurried straight up the stairs and down the long, dark corridor to the back bedroom that housed the redhead and knocked urgently, hoping she would answer the door. 

"Zelda, please, please let me in," Mary pleaded from outside the bedroom, not entirely sure of why she felt so desperately that she needed to see the eldest of the Spellman sisters. "Please, before I forget all of this, you owe this to me."

Zelda sat up in bed, the sound of Mary's voice ringing in her ears. She must have cried herself to sleep. Was this a dream? There was only one way to find out. Still in her black lace dress, her mascara slightly smudged, Zelda crawled out of bed and rushed to answer the door, greeted by the sight of Mary Wardwell on the other side. 

"Zelda...." Mary muttered, the sight of the woman in such an intimate setting catching her off guard, "Zelda... why?" 

Mary pushed past her into the bedroom before Zelda had a chance to object. She knew if she didn't, Zelda would refuse her once she regained her senses. 

"Mary, I-" Zelda stuttered as she blinked and crossed her arms over her chest, unsure of what to do, "Ms. Wardwell are you alright?" The sound of her name on Mary's lips made her heart beat hard. 

"You know very well that I am not alright, Zelda Spellman, and I think you know why," Mary chided, stepping dangerously close to the woman in front of her, "please... before everything changes, before I forget again, please tell me what on earth is going on, Zelda. Tell me how I know you. Tell me why you're in my head and you won't leave it."

Zelda stared at the floor, her heart threatening to beat straight out of her chest. "Ms. Wardwell I cannot do that," she muttered, refusing to look up at her. 

Mary could feel the magnetism between them. It was as if a rope tied her heart to the woman's in front of her; like that rope was squeezing her heart harder and harder until it threatened to burst. Finally, Mary stepped closer to Zelda and took her hands in hers, intertwining their fingers. Like a flash of lighting the memories flooded her mind. Nights of passion, quiet sleep riddled mornings in the redhead's arms, petty arguments, late night conversations, stolen kisses. Mary squeezed her hands, reliving every moment between them in an instant. Zelda felt the intensity of her touch and pulled her in closer, letting go of one hand in favor of wrapping an arm around her waist, her lips meeting Mary's in a clumsy embrace. She kissed her gently, hesitantly, as if she was scared to break the school teacher. 

Mary couldn't breathe. She felt positively starved for Zelda's kiss. How long had she gone without and when, exactly, had she begun craving it? Mary had never, ever felt this way for another person before, much less another woman. When had it happened, and how? She couldn't even recall meeting Zelda, much less falling in love with her. Mary squeezed her eyelids shut and sighed, then backed away from her lover.

"Zelda, I- I don't understand," she muttered, beside herself, "there's so much I don't understand." She felt the tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. It had happened so many times in the past week. First, when she woke up alone in her home, unsure of where she was, when exactly it was, or where her beloved fiancé was. It had happened again when she returned to school, walked into the wrong classroom, and had to be told she was principal. It had happened when she could find none of her usual closing, when she was so hungry she thought she could die, when she first saw Zelda in town and longed for her without knowing quite why. "Please... Zelda don't lie to me. What has happened, and how did we end up here?"

Zelda wiped the tears gently from Mary's cheeks and took both of her hands in hers, then led her to the bed, offering for Mary to sit next to her in the space where they had made love so many times. "Mary if I.... I think it may be easier for both of us if we just lie down. I know it doesn't make any sense but.... can I ask you to trust me? One last time?" The though of one last time drove daggers through Zelda's heart, but it wasn't as if she had much choice in the matter. 

Mary nodded silently and crawled into Zelda's bed, allowing the woman to crawl in behind her and wrap her arms around her, spooning her tightly. Zelda held her close and pulled the covers up around them, reveling in the feel of Mary's curves against her body again.

"Mary what I am about to tell you will not make sense, nor will it be.... easy to understand," Zelda said gently as she rested her hand against the woman's rib cage, resisting temptation to nuzzle her neck with her lips and cup her breast like she had so many times in the past. Mary nodded silently and back her hips into Zelda, oddly comforted by her warmth. It felt as though she belonged in her embrace.

"Mary, nine months ago you were.... killed. In an accident. At that time, you were possessed by the mother of demons, Lilith herself," Zelda sighed heavily, almost unable to believe the words coming out of her own mouth. How dare Lilith do this. 

"Lilith inhabited your body for the next several months- nine, to be exact- while my niece, Sabrina, underwent her dark baptism and a uh, a battle, of sorts, with the dark lord, Satan." 

At that, Mary Wardwell rolled over on her back to look Zelda in the eye. Zelda propped herself up on one elbow to look at the exquisite creature in her bed and smiled down at Mary as she cocked an eyebrow. 

"I'm aware that I am in a stranger's bed and this is all pretty weird but... Zelda Spellman have you lost your mind?" 

Zelda pursed her lips, then laughed out loud and flicked Mary in the arm. "No, sadly, I have not. Now would you like me to continue with the story, or would you like to continue to lie in a stranger's bed and continue to judge said stranger?"

"I mean, it's sort of fun to lie here and-" Zelda couldn't help herself. She leaned over Mary and kissed her hard on the lips, her tongue fighting for access to Mary's mouth. Lipstick and eyeliner or no, it was still her love, lying there below her, giving her the same hard time she always had. How much of Mary Wardwell's soul had Lilith preserved when she possessed her? How much of Mary Wardwell had Zelda really fallen in love with? 

Mary moaned quietly as Zelda's hand wandered up her skirt, long, sharp nails trailing against her thigh as she peppered kisses against her jaw, unable to stop herself. Zelda felt like she was on fire as she felt the warmth of Mary's skin against the palm of her hand, her smooth flesh teasing and tempting her. She dragged her nails up the length of her thigh, working her hand toward her center as she worked her moth toward her collarbone, receiving no objection from Mary. 

It was Zelda's turn to let out a moan as she toyed with the edge of Mary's silk panties, slipping her hand below the boundary, feeling her warmth against her index finger as she unbuttoned the top two buttons of her blouse with her other hand. 

Zelda made quick work of discarding her lover's panties, her hand finding its way back to her center, teasing her clit as her mouth worked the skin not protected by her bra. "Satan I've missed you," she muttered into Mary's cleavage as she slid two fingers into her center, Mary arching her back against the delightful sensation. 

"What.... about this Lilith," she half panted, half moaned as she gripped the sheets with one hand and closed her eyes, Zelda's touch feeling more loving and familiar than any she had ever felt in her life. "She.... how did it..."

"She helped my niece," Zelda muttered between kisses as she did away with Mary's shirt and unhooked her bra, discarding that as quickly as she could as well. Zelda paused for a moment, her fingers still deep inside her lover, and took in the sight of Mary underneath her. 

Had it ever been Lilith? Yes... the demon had inhabited the body, but wasn't it always Mary? It was Mary's flesh and shape and.... but it was still Lilith's mind and spirit. Was it, perhaps, both of them that she loved? 

Zelda shook the thought out of her head and smirked as she circled Mary's nipple with her tongue, growing wet herself as it hardened in her mouth. "She... lived in your form...." Zelda muttered, "and...." 

Zelda gave up talking again as she kissed down Mary's torso, biting and sucking as she curved her fingers up, easily finding her lover's favorite spot, eliciting a loud moan from Mary's lips. 

"Gah- Zelda, fu-" Mary squeaked and dug her nails into Zelda's forearms, throwing her head back against the pillow as the woman licked and caressed all of her most sensitive spots. 

Zelda, encouraged by the sounds coming from Mary, smiled against the woman's pelvic bone before she kissed across her sensitive flesh, slowly encircling her clit with her tongue. "I've missed you," she groaned against her skin, quickening her pace as she lapped at her mound, reveling in the familiar taste of her lover.

Mary's grip on the sheets tightened as she felt her nerves tense, close to the edge. No one had ever made her feel this way; not even past lovers. It was an all consuming kind of sensation, one that brought her almost to the brink of madness. "God, Zelda," she groaned as she released the sheets and tangled her hands in Zelda's hair, guiding her mouth exactly where she needed it. Not that Zelda needed much help; the woman seemed to know her body like the back of her hand. 

Mary let out a loud moan as Zelda pushed her over the edge, her fingers deep inside her as she was overcome with wave after wave of satisfaction. Zelda eased her fingers out of her body and kissed her hip softly, resting her head on her abdomen, as she came down from her orgasm, Mary's hands still tangled in her hair. 

"I uh...." Zelda smirked as she held on to her lover, not wanting to let her go, "I wasn't expecting to do that."

Mary smirked and rested one hand against Zelda's back, wishing they could stay like that all night, "I didn't mind, Miss Spellman....I didn't mind."

After a moment Zelda looked up at Mary, then repositioned herself on the bed so they were lying eye to eye, her arms wrapped tightly back around the petite woman. "Mary I never meant for you to get hurt in any of this. We didn't know... we didn't know for months what Lilith had done. I.... well, when this first started I thought..."

"You thought you were falling in love with me," Mary said quietly before she pressed her lips against Zelda's, the emotion in the other woman's eyes threatening to take her over again. 

"Yes. I did. I had no idea that you... weren't you," Zelda sighed deeply, pressing her forehead against Mary's, "I'm sure you've guessed it by now but we Spellmans are witches. The last thing I wanted to do was fall for a mortal. But you were... different. Of course, now I know why.... but we will fix this for you, Mary. We will.... return things to the way they were... before."

Zelda closed her eyes at the thought, dreading the idea that Mary wouldn't remember their time together come morning, but knew it would be best for the woman. 

Mary sat up, unsure of what to think of Zelda's offer to "fix" her. "How would you... fix it? If I'm alright with it must we forget it? Can't we just..... continue on?"

Zelda wished that she could say yes. She wished that they could continue on as if it were normal for a witch to love a mortal, much less a high priestess the discard of a demon. "We'll.... we'll see about it, Mary. We'll figure it out." She didn't have the heart to tell her no, but she couldn't lie to her and tell her yes. 

"I'm famished," she lied as she crawled out of bed and brushed a hand through her hair, "why don't we go downstairs and see if we can find anything for dessert? I'm sure Sabrina will be thrilled to see that we have uh.... talked things out."

Mary smirked as she followed suit and crawled out of bed, wrapping her arms around Zelda, not bothering with her clothes. Zelda pulled the woman close to her, aching to keep her close as she felt the warmth of her naked body radiating against her dress. "Mary, whatever happens..... please know that it has been my.... my greatest blessing to love you." 

Mary tilted her chin up to look Zelda in the eye and kissed her deeply, then nodded, "I do look forward to hearing the rest of this- of our story- Zelda, but... I suspect it has been mine as well." Mary kissed her one last time before she pulled away in favor of redressing herself as Zelda looked on, her heart breaking at the thought of what would happen when they reached the kitchen. It had to be done.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a week since Zelda had wiped Mary's memory entirely, including the fact that she'd ever had a fiancé. She couldn't bear the fact that Mary had suffered a loss, so she took it away. The woman never knew anything other than being principal and the town historian. Perhaps it was a bit.... lonely, but it was better than the alternative. 

Zelda had spotted her in town, but avoided running into her. If Mary entered into a building with her, Zelda would find a stealth way out. Still, there were no visits from Lilith. When would she make her appearance? When would she guide Zelda on how to run her coven? For now, Zelda was running the academy for the practice of magic for Magic's sake. She was grooming her young pupils to worship Lilith, counseling them through the complicated downfall of their beloved dark lord, but she had no real answers. They had no higher power to worship. 

"Auntie Zee?" Sabrina sighed as she laid an envelope on the kitchen table in front of her aunt who was perched in her usual spot at the head, cigarette dangling from her delicate hand. 

"I can only imagine what in Lilith's name this is," Zelda muttered, taking notice of the familiar scrawl, "why would Principal Wardwell have addressed a letter to me, Sabrina?" Her heart beat a little faster at the sight. Zelda had a hundred love letters in that same hand, tucked away in a box in the top of her wardrobe. 

"I.... don't know, Auntie. She said not to open it, and asked me to give it especially to you." Sabrina waited for her aunt to open the letter, wondering if it might be from Lilith. Sabrina had to admit, she missed her too, if it was possible to miss the demon queen herself. Part of her felt wrong for missing Lilith; it felt... blasphemous, somehow unholy. She was supposed to revere and worship her, not miss her as if she were a beloved family member. Still, Sabrina longed to see Lilith again. 

Zelda looked up at her niece, then scoffed. "Sabrina don't just stand there. If Ms. Wardwell wanted you to know what this was she would've addressed it to you. No go," she chided as she motioned toward the stairs. As soon as Sabrina was safely out of sight Zelda tore into the letter, hoping it was in fact from Lilith. She read as quickly as her mind allowed, disappointed by the words in front of her.

Dear Ms. Spellman,

We are looking for volunteers to host the annual fall dance and your name has come up many times in conversation to sit on the planning committee. I hoped by reaching out directly that you would consider my request to join us. 

Kindest regards,  
Principal Wardwell

It felt more like a trap than a request to help with an innocent school function, yet Zelda felt herself tempted by the prospect of spending time with Mary again. Could it really be Mary, or was it Lilith playing another cruel trick on her?

She looked out the window at the leaves falling, a symphony of reds and oranges in perfect harmony as summer waned and fall, her favorite season, took hold of their small town right there in her front yard. Perhaps it wouldn't be all bad, getting away from the mortuary and the headache that was the academy in favor of some lighthearted fun at Sabrina's high school. 

Satan, who was she? Light hearted fun? Zelda relit her cigarette and chided herself for the thought, but stood and grabbed her keys from the hook by the kitchen door, anyway. Perhaps she could still catch Mary in her office if she hurried. 

Without a second thought Zelda rushed out the back door and down the steps to her car and shoved the key in the ignition, peeling down the long driveway and onto the main road that led to Baxter high. The idea of seeing Mary again made her heart race. She wasn't sure it was the most brilliant idea she'd ever had but the woman had asked to see her, and for a perfectly valid reason. It wasn't as if she was forcing herself on Mary. Lilith couldn't be angry; Zelda was doing the school a favor. 

It didn't take long at all for Zelda to pull up to the school and find a parking spot, then rush inside the building and down the long hallway in the direction of Mary's office; the same office where she had met Lilith countless times. Before she entered she smoothed her black, A-line dress with the palms of her hands and flipped her hair out of her face, then knocked quietly, hoping she hadn't missed the principal.

"Come in," Mary muttered absent mindedly without looking up from the paperwork on her desk. She'd been going over reports all day and her brain felt positively numb. She wasn't really in the mood for a visitor; whomever it was she hoped they'd make it quick and be on their way. 

"Excuse me, principal Wardwell," Zelda said politely as she opened the door and stepped inside, barely clearing the doorway, "I'm sorry to interrupt." Zelda's heart skipped a beat at the sight of Mary but she did her best not to show it, keeping her hands folded tightly in front of her torso as she waited for even a hint of recognition. 

Mary raised an eyebrow and blinked behind her glasses, giving no indication that she knew the woman. "How may I help you Miss-?" 

"Ah Spellman- Zelda, I'm Sabrina Spellman's aunt... Zelda. I received your note and thought I'd come down here to speak with you about what all might be involved with helping out with this fall dance." Zelda knew she was rambling but somehow couldn't help her mouth. It was as if someone had hexed her and she couldn't stop herself from speaking. 

"Of course. I didn't expect you to respond so quickly, Ms. Spellman, or in person." With a flash of her bright blue eyes, Zelda knew something was amiss, but let it go. It was as if Lilith weren't completely gone, but then again Mary's eyes had always been haunting. 

"My apologies, Principal Wardwell. I was... running errands after Sabrina brought your note home and thought I could catch you. If now is not a good time then perhaps we can set a meeting." Zelda watched her carefully, searching for an inkling of Lilith in her movement. The two had shared a body for nine months, but they were so very different. Mary was proper, polite, buttoned up. Lilith was mysterious, sensual, dangerous. Zelda ached to see even a hint of her. 

Mary smiled politely and motioned for Zelda to sit down, then pulled her glasses off of her face and rubbed her eyes, stifling a yawn. "That's quite alright, really. I wasn't anywhere near leaving, anyway. We can talk now if you've got the time, and then you can decide if you'd like to join us."

Zelda already knew the answer; if it meant working directly with Mary Wardwell, she'd join them for whatever it was she had to do for as long as she had to do it. She scolded herself silently for being so desperate, but took a seat anyway. 

"Of course, thank you," she smiled as she sat across from Mary and refolded her hands in her lap and did her best to push away the barrage of memories invading her mind. 

"Well, Ms. Spellman, your niece has mentioned that you're quite good with planning events and we need someone to cochair the committee for the fall dance with me. Together we would be responsible for the planning process. I know it's not the most fun prospect in the world, but someone's got to do it and I've got too much on my plate to do it alone," Mary smirked, thinking of how boring planning a dance really would be, "I figured doing it with another adult over a bottle of wine would make the process more tolerable than doing it with ten kids during home room."

Zelda immediately saw through everything in an instant. Sabrina had clearly enchanted the situation, and her head would have to roll straight of her puny little body as soon as Zelda got home. Didn't she understand how careless that was? How much trouble Zelda could face? Didn't she get that staying away from Mary Wardwell was the only option for the woman's safety and the coven's success? This wasn't some romance novel her Aunt Hilda was reading, this was her life, her religion, and the physical safety of Mary at the hands of the queen of hell. 

"Very well, Principal Wardwell," Zelda smiled, knowing it was now too late to say no. She'd have to make up some excuse to miss the meetings, "I would be happy to help. You just give me a ring and let me know when you'd like to meet." With that, Zelda pulled a business card out of her purse and dropped it on her desk, then quickly evacuated the office. 

Zelda couldn't wait to get home. She was going to draw and quarter her niece as she explained to her the consequences of her actions. Then she was going to knock her in the head with a shovel. Then she was going to set her on fire. Then, maybe, she'd bury her in the Cain pit. Maybe.


	6. Chapter 6

Zelda kneeled in the desecrated church in quiet reflection, her heart and mind concentrated on her Queen and what she could possibly do with her coven. 

"Please, Lilith, I need answers," she breathed in exasperation as she clutched her thighs, her nails digging in to the soft flesh Lilith had once so loved to torture and tease. She thought, perhaps, if she brought herself to the brink of exquisite temptation it would entice Lilith out of the shadows. She was a carnal demon, lustful of women much more so than men, and she loved to be in control. No, she didn't love it; she outright commanded it. It was what had gotten her thrown out of the garden of Eden and cast out of the great savior's favor in the first place. Lilith would be bottom to no one, man, woman, or spirit alike. 

"Answers, my love?" 

Zelda heard her gentle voice, so unlike the rich, dark tenor of Mary Wardwell's, but dared not look behind her. She would stay bent and reverent, ready to kiss the feet of her queen if she so demanded it. Zelda heard the soft pad of Lilith's bare feet upon the stone ground; it felt foreign to her. Her Lilith would be clad in spike stilettos, clicking confidently all the way down the unholy aisle. 

The candles burning at the altar cast a wicked glow against the ancient stone walls, the shadow of the petite woman dancing as she moved nearer her high priestess. Lilith was clad in all black; a long, flowing gown befitting the mother demons and the Queen of Hell. Her hair, no longer perfectly coiffed and raven hued, fell down her back in deep brown ringlets, wild and loose. Zelda stole a glance at her but quickly stared back down at the floor, her heart sinking at the sight of this perfect stranger. And she was perfect.

"Zelda, my love," Lilith murmured as she joined her priestess on the floor, moving instead to comfort the redhead rather than have her worship at her feet. Lilith took her in her arms, forcing Zelda to rest her head upon her bosom, "my darling. I know you're tired. I know you're... confused."

Zelda felt instantly at ease in the embrace of her lover. The body was different, but not the soul. If she closed her eyes she could feel the essence of Lilith, as familiar as Mary. There was no telling them apart; the two had become one in the same for Zelda.

"My queen, what am I to do with this coven? I must lead them into the worship of.... something. Of you? I would like it to be you..." Zelda whispered with all the innocence and hope of a child, keeping her head firmly pressed against Lilith's body, wrapping her arms as tightly around her as she could manage. She wanted to kiss her, to make love to her. Somehow, that didn't feel quite right. 

"I've brought you something..." Lilith smiled as she kissed the top of Zelda's head, more as a lover than as her ever loving queen, "but you'll have to release me for me to show you."

Zelda felt obstinate and defiant. "Then I don't want it," she mumbled as she tangled her hands in Lilith's hair, the temptation to kiss her growing stronger despite her initial reservations. 

Lilith backed away from her, forcing Zelda to release her. Gently, she reminded the woman of where they were. "Not here, my love. But soon, I promise you."

Zelda felt the absolute ache in her body as Lilith moved, an absence she wasn't sure she could bear. "When? Lilith I'm not.... I miss..." she thought better of finishing the sentence, remembering first and foremost her duty as high priestess of the church of Lilith. 

"I know, my pet," Lilith smirked, "I've not forgotten you, Zelda. Have you not... felt me? Have you not seen a flash or two of me in the eyes of your new friend, Principal Wardwell?"

Zelda tried to hide the smile threatening to crack, but she couldn't help it. "I thought you were angry with me....you've been toying with me just to get your kicks all this time. Honestly Lilith I-"

"Now now," Lilith chided, flipping her hair behind her ear and raising an eyebrow. Zelda could see her then, in that moment. She could see her precious Mary and understand why Lilith chose her. They were so, so alike. Perhaps linked years back; or maybe Mary wasn't quite as mortal as she'd like to think.... but there was a reason. It was not coincidence. "I'm not saying you should go running into that mortal's arms once more.... but I have my ways Zelda Spellman, and I will never, ever, ever leave your side."

Lilith moved dangerously close to the witch, running one hand along her waist and down her thigh, "you are mine, Zelda Spellman, and so is Mary Wardwell. She helped me claim hell, and you will help me run it." 

Zelda saw the flash of danger in her eyes and felt it in the pit of her stomach. She loved Lilith, but more than that, she wanted to worship Lilith. The air thick between them, Zelda stared, unblinking, into her eyes, daring her to make a move. 

Finally, when Lilith felt as though she couldn't breathe, she stepped away from Zelda in favor of a small, brown bag. "I come bearing gifts, high priestess," she remarked as she pulled out a bloodied hoof. 

"Show your unholy congregation that I have indeed won. You shall be the Church of Lilith, and you shall worship the queen of hell, Madam Satan."

Zelda dropped to her knees and bowed her head at the sight, her arms outstretched in exaltation. Lilith had won. All really would be well. 

"Get up" She chided, not yet accustomed to seeing her lover in such a state of obedience and reverence. "I understand that you will do this in front of people but please, Zelda, please not... not alone."

Zelda felt her chest tighten at the softness of her lover and stood immediately. "Lilith I don't know what I am doing. I don't know up from down or who I am to worship or am supposed to love or ignore or-"

Lilith quieted the redhead by pressing her lips hard into hers and pulling her into a warm, soft embrace. Zelda was still shocked by how gentle she could be when she wanted. "You love me. You worship when it is called for. But you are my.... love. There is no other word for it. You are not my priestess or my hand maiden or my concubine, Zelda. You are my love. It is that simple and that complicated all at once."

That answered one question, but Mary Wardwell still lingered in the back of Zelda's mind. She was, indeed, the other half of Zelda's love, whether or not she liked it or even admitted it. After a moment, Zelda nodded. 

"Alright... so step one. Take the bloodied hoof and cheer on the masses. Then wait for instructions on step two."

"Precisely," Lilith smiled. "By the way, you're late for choir practice, darling."

"Fuck. And Lilith I HATE it when you do that!" Zelda grumbled as she forgot all ceremony, easily falling back into old habits with her lover, "you don't even have a bloody watch on!"

"Is that Lilith as in "for Lilith's sake" or are you calling me by my name?" 

Zelda rolled her eyes and sighed, then kissed the woman hard on the the lips before she rushed out of the church and off to her office to retrieve the proper folders for her next lessons. Perhaps this wasn't going to be so impossible and terrifying, after all.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this at 2 am and didn’t have a chance to edit... please forgive all typos. And... there are many!

"I think we can get away with regular plastic cups, Principal Wardwell," Zelda sighed as she took another sip of red wine. They were tucked away in a back booth at a cafe up the street from Dr. Cerberus' bookstore. Zelda hadn't wanted to take a chance of running into her niece or sister while she was with Mary. If she were being honest, she wanted Mary all to herself. Now, however, the woman was driving her positively insane. Zelda could care less whether the cups looked like champagne flutes or the high school gymnasium was transformed into a true Parisian evening. She was about to send Mary straight to Paris, or better yet, back to hell. She'd never seen this particular side of the woman in such detail before, and of course she couldn't yell at her for it. They weren't lovers anymore; Mary didn't even remember that they had once been friends, much less something more. Still, Zelda wanted to take her ex lover by the throat. She thought she was bad about details, but she had nothing on Mary. 

"You're right, I'm sorry," Mary laughed as she she tugged at the sleeves of her tight black turtle neck, the brushed her long, black hair out of her face. Her hair was down and mostly straight, and odd sight for Zelda, and her cat eye glasses were perched on her nose. She had eye liner on; something much closer to the way Lilith would've work it. She looked heartbreakingly pretty and that was the only reason why Zelda hadn't strangled her and left her body under the booth. "Sometimes I forget that I am planning events for children and not a group much more sophisticated. I get carried away."

"That's... quite alright," Zelda smirked as she took another sip of wine and continued her study of her niece's principal. It was getting chilly in Greendale and the town was changing colors from lush green to reds and oranges, a fireplace glowing in the corner of the small cafe. Fall was always Zelda's favorite time of year, and Mary did look delicious in sweaters. She chided herself for allowing her mind to wander and refocused her eyes on Mary's. "Uh... we still have to plan the food. I assume we will do finger foods?"

"Yes but it's getting late. Do you have something or... someone in which to return home?" Mary asked politely, not wanting their time together to end but painfully aware that she'd already kept Zelda for over two hours. 

"What?" Zelda laughed, then set her glass down, "no, I can assure you, I do not. Of course, if you do," she muttered nervously, "I'm sorry we stayed out so long."

Mary twirled the stem of her wine glass between her index and middle finger as she stared down at the table, almost remembering that she had once loved someone. The memories danced on the edge of her mind like a dream she couldn't quite recall. She knew perhaps there'd been a man once, and she couldn't shake the feeling that Zelda was both deeply familiar and comforting, but she didn't know why. "No, please," she huffed, "the only thing living in my house are the science experiments I've started with leftovers in the fridge."

It was so like Mary- and Lilith. Of course, Lilith had t exactly consumed food the way a proper human would so the rotting food made sense for a short time. She finally discarded it when Zelda complained and reminded her that she was in fact human and did in fact need sustenance sometimes. "I've got that particular affliction in my home too, but I thought it was the byproduct of raising two picky teenagers."

"I used to love food," Mary mused, "but lately food and I have not been the best of friends." Zelda's spine pricked with worry at the mention that Mary wasn't feeling entirely herself. Had something gone awry with her resurrection? 

"What do you mean, Principal Wardwell? And how long can you remember this being an issue? Are you ill? Often?" 

Mary raised an eyebrow, surprised by the sudden probing from the woman seated across from her. It felt clinical; more than typical conversation. "Please, if we're going to drink wine together for three hours, call me Mary and.... three months? There's so much I don't remember recently I'm honestly not certain. I know that sounds crazy, but it's as if I lost my mind when I was in that car accident. And uh.... yes, actually. I am."

Zelda swallowed hard, but tried to hide her worry. The earth wanted a soul, and even the queen of hell hadn't gotten around it. No. It couldn't claim Mary. Zelda would not allow it. 

"You should certainly see about that," Zelda muttered, suddenly lost in thought. She'd have to get to Lilith immediately. Surely there was something they could do. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't pry. I guess it's a casualty of working with the dead. One grows accustomed to questioning the ailments that resulted in our town folk introducing themselves to me on our table." She kicked herself immediately for the morbidity of her comment. She wasn't speaking to Lilith, she speaking to Mary. A perfectly normal, lovely, kind, soft woman. 

Mary laughed out loud, then covered her mouth in embarrassment. "You're a little dark, Zelda Spellman.... I like it." 

"Well..." Zelda blushed, suddenly at a loss for words. Was Mary flirting with her? No. Yes. No. Maybe? "Professional casualty, Mary. We can't all be delightful and intellectual like some."

"Oh please, lay it on a little thicker," Mary laughed and rolled her eyes, "delightful and intellectual? With the exception of a handful of students, your niece included, my job consists of trying to prevent the natural selection process from taking place at Baxter High and writing about the fables and fairytales on which our town seems to be founded."

"Fairytales and fables, huh?" Zelda took another long sip of her wine, then signaled to the waiter to bring one check. "You don't believe that witches and warlocks fought to the death over a portal to hell right here in our sleepy little town?"

Mary looked at Zelda with a hint of skepticism and bit her bottom lip, then smirked, "oh come on, Zelda. I certainly believe there are witches in the world, but a portal to hell? Doesn't that seem a little... far fetched?"

"No, not with as much wine as we've had this evening," Zelda laughed, "who knows, Mary? Maybe once you were Lilith and I was your priestess." Zelda felt the muscles in her stomach tighten at her own words. She knew she was tempting a whole lot more than fate, speaking such a plain truth out loud to Mary, but she had to grab Lilith's attention. She needed her. Mary needed her. If she truly was ill their time was limited. If the earth demanded payment, they were nearly out of time. 

"Huh," Mary pondered the thought and ran her tongue along her bottom lip, "a breathtakingly beautiful woman worshiping me? And I have unlimited power as the mother of demons? I suppose that wouldn't be all bad.... especially since Lilith always was the uh... the one in charge." The wine had definitely loosened her lips, but she didn't care. Mary felt safe with Zelda. There was something about the woman that made her want to be flirtatious and sexy, not buttoned up and quiet. She tempted her to take charge, not stay gentle and demure. 

"Mary Wardwell," Zelda whispered as she slid her credit card into the check holder and pushed it onto the table behind them to maintain their privacy, "are you suggesting that you could honestly handle being in charge of me?" 

"I'm not suggesting anything," she smiled innocently, "just elaborating on your witchy little fantasy." Mary reached her hand across the table and trailed one long, manicured nail playfully down the length of Zelda's forearm and across her wrist. "And I don't have to suggest anything, Ms. Spellman. I know perfectly well what I'm capable of."

"Honestly," Zelda shook her head and laughed as her credit card was returned. She felt the effects of Mary's touch against her thigh, her body throbbing in response. She uncrossed and recrossed her legs under the table and raised an eyebrow, trying to concentrate as she signed the receipt. It felt good to laugh with Mary again; to sit in her presence and be intimate with her. The hard part was about to come; now would Zelda get up and walk away? How would she not follow the woman home? How could she not walk through the front door with her hands wrapped around her waist, how could she not crawl into bed with her and hold her all night? Reality hit her hard as she set the pen down on the table in front of her and reached for her purse. Mary Wardwell still was not hers. 

"Well, I suppose we should both be on our way. Are you alright to drive?" Zelda asked seriously, concerned about Mary's twenty minute commute into the country, "you can always come back to our house. We have plenty of guest rooms and tomorrow is Saturday and we could come get your -"

"I'm alright, Zelda," Mary laughed as she grabbed her purse and stood, "truly. Thank you for the kind offer but I've got to get home and tend to a few things there early in the morning. Though the idea of a sleep over does sound fun; I may have to take you up on that one day."

Zelda's heart sank, but she understood. "You bring the wine, we will make my sister cook, I'll.... sit on the porch and drink the wine?" Zelda smirked as the two walked out together, Mary pulling her coat on as the chill of the night air greeted them. 

"Yes, you just sit there and look pretty," Mary rolled her eyes as they headed in the direction of their cars. She was aware of how many times she'd told Zelda she was pretty, but she couldn't help it. She found the woman absolutely breathtaking, far more than any other woman she'd ever encountered in her life. As they approached her car she let out a quiet sigh. 

"Well, this is me. Thank you again for all your help in planning this dance. It has been such a relief to have someone I can count on for this event," she smiled as she reached out to hug Zelda.

Zelda modded silently, nervous at the prospect of coming in to that much contact with Mary. They embraced, hugging each other gently, and then kissed each other cheeks to say goodbye. Zelda's whole body rang out in protest; she needed so much more. 

"Of course, you're very welcome, Mary. I.... well, I suppose I will see you soon. Please do let me know how you are fairing, I will be worried until you do."

With one last assurance that she would keep Zelda apprised of her medical goings on and one last round of thank you's, Mary slipped into the driver seat of her car and took off, leaving Zelda behind, watching her go.Hey


	8. Chapter 8

"You were out late last night, Aunt Zee," Sabrina smirked mischievously before she took a bite of toast, knowing exactly where her aunt had been. 

Zelda rolled her eyes and took a sip of her espresso, then flipped her hair behind her shoulder. She was still clad in her long black robe and silk headband, reading glasses perched on her bare face. "Yes, I was, thanks to your utterly ridiculous antics, Sabrina," she chided as she reached for the newspaper in front of her niece. 

"Ah... out with Mary then were we?" Hilda chimed in, an equally Cheshire grin crossing her face. 

"Oh for the absolute love of Lilith don't tell me you helped her with this little trick, Hilda?" Zelda eyed the frying pan on the stove, half tempted to pick it up and whack her sister in the head right then and there. How dare Hilda, queen of the virgins, interfere with her love life. 

"I didn't help!" Hilda practically screeched as she jumped up from the table to get to the pan before her sister could. "I have plans this evening, don't you dare do it Zelda."

Zelda rolled her lips together to hide the smile forming and looked back at the paper. She did love that her younger sister was still afraid of her. "Whomever did it, all your little games need to stop. There is to be no more enchantments on Mary. She is.... unwell." Zelda wasn't sure if it was hunger or worry rolling in her stomach, but she felt her body lurch in response to her own words. Lilith hadn't come to her last night. 

"What do you mean unwell?" Sabrina asked innocently as she finished her toast and reached for her cell phone. 

"Ah Ah- put that dreadful thing down while you're seated at my table," Zelda muttered from behind the paper, then folded it down so she could make eye contact with her family. Perhaps it was nothing to worry about, but if it was then Sabrina most of all needed to understand the severity. She had already lost Lilith; Zelda hated the thought of her niece losing Mary, too. "Sabrina, my darling girl.... do you remember when you killed Agatha and brought her back? And in your ignorance and negligence hadn't thought that the earth would want a soul to claim?"

Sabrina nodded, understanding dawning on her, "no.... no. Aunt Zee you can't let that happen." Sabrina choked back tears at the thought of losing Ms. Wardwell and it nearly snapped Zelda's heart in two. 

"I.... Sabrina now is not the time to worry."

Zelda didn't know what else to say. Now was absolutely the time to worry, but she wouldn't stand for making her niece suffer if that weren't in fact what was happening. Without another word Sabrina excused herself from the table and ran up the stairs, unable to quell her own emotions. The thought of losing another person weighed heavy on her heart. She couldn't do it again. 

"I'll go talk to-" Zelda rested a hand on her sister's wrist and sighed.

"I had better take this one," she sighed, feeling a lump form in her own throat. "It's my fault she's so close to her in the first place."

Hilda nodded and gently squeezed her sister's hand, then watched her walk away. How could Lilith have gotten a resurrection wrong? Was that even possible? 

Zelda took a deep breath in and closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself before she knocked on her niece's door. "Hey dandelion," she mumbled as she entered and saw her niece crumpled in the middle of her bed, tears already staining her cheeks. Dandelion had been Sabrina's nickname from Zelda since she'd come to live with them, though Zelda now reserved it for their most intimate moments. 

"I'm sorry...." Sabrina cried, a new sob breaking out as she sat up and extended her arms, reaching for her aunt. Zelda rushed to her side and held her tightly, crawling fully onto the bed with her. "I'm sorry if I did anything to hurt her," Sabrina gasped as she wiped her tears on Zelda's shoulder and collarbone. 

Zelda rocked the girl back and forth, Sabrina practically in her lap now. "Hush child," she murmured, "you didn't do anything, you didn't do anything at all."

Sabrina closed her eyes and burrowed deeper into Zelda's embrace, exhausted from her outburst. If she felt this badly, how hard must this be on her aunt? "She's not going to die, is she?" 

Zelda's heart ached as Sabrina's question came out sounding like one more from a small child, not from the herald of hell herself. The herald of hell. Of course. Sabrina was as deeply tied to Lilith and Mary as was Zelda. She was born of their flesh; she had even more right to them than Zelda. "I don't know, Sabrina," Zelda sighed as she tried to choke back her own tears, emotion overwhelming her. "I don't know anything right now, my love. I don't know how or why we are so tied to Lilith... I don't know why Mary is. I know that she is. I don't know what's going to happen to her or why Lilith won't bloody listen when I summon her. I. Know. Nothing."

Despite her best efforts, the tears rolled down Zelda's cheeks, fat and heavy, holding the weight of her world. She felt... stupid. Inadequate. Weak. She shouldn’t be crying in front of her niece. 

“Aunt Zee...” Sabrina cooed as she lifted her head to look at her aunt, “aunt Zelda look at me.”

Zelda refused to comply, staring instead at the comforter as she tried to get ahold of herself. This was completely ridiculous; Mary was fine for the time being, she had reassurance from Lilith that the coven was going to be alright, why on earth was she so taken by these tears?

“Fine,” Sabrina muttered defiantly, “if you won’t look at me I’ll say it to the top of your head.” She grabbed her aunt’s hand, squeezing it tightly as she spoke, “Aunt Zee you are the strongest woman I know... and the smartest. If you don’t know something yet, it’s because, well, no one does. I just.... Lilith won’t let anything happen to Mary if she is as tied to her as you think, right? And Lilith loves you. Sometimes I think Lilith may even be the one worshiping you, Aunt Z.” 

Finally Zelda looked up, the tiniest hint of a smirk on her face. She quickly wiped her tears away, wishing more than anything that Sabrina hadn’t seen her lose her resolve. “You’re a ridiculous child, Sabrina Spellman, and I love you more than my toes.”

Sabrina laughed at the sentiment, remembering the first time she’d ever said the very same thing to her aunt. She was four and trying to convey that she loved her aunt, her greatest comfort and fiercest protector, from her head to her toes. It came out instead that Sabrina loved Zelda more than her toes and the two had held on to both the memory and sentiment ever sense.

“I love you too, Aunt Z. A lot more than my toes,” Sabrina smiled, then moved to embrace the woman again. “Aunt Zee... it’s gonna be ok. For both of us. But.... maybe tonight you could sleep in here with me?” 

Zelda felt as if her heart might burst, but nodded demurely in response. “We’ll see what the day brings. I think we would both be well served to clean ourselves up and get dressed and see how we feel after a hot shower. Don’t you agree?” 

Sabrina stuck her lip out in a pout. “That did not answer my question.”

Zelda sighed, but smiled despite herself. Cuddling more into niece, the redhead pressed her nose against Sabrina’s and nodded. “If you need me you know I’ll be right here.” 

Sabrina nodded, her aunt moving in unison with her, then pulled away to flop back on her bed. “You get dressed first. I’m exhausted.”

“Fine, fine,” Zelda laughed as she stood up and tightened her robe around her waist, “I’ve got some business to attend to, anyway. But no sleeping til noon, young lady, I’ll not have that kind of laziness in my house.”

Before Sabrina could speak again Zelda bent down before her and pressed her lips to her forehead, offering one last token of affection and comfort. “Sabrina I know... I know that I am hard on you. But I hope you also know how very, very much I love you.”

Sabrina glanced up at her aunt and studied her face, her laugh lines more present this morning. She had seen this face from this angle a million times and it never became less captivating. This woman- this all powerful, no nonsense, terrifying specimen of a creature who opted to love her because she could- this woman was her mother. She had Hilda and Mary and Lilith. She had lost Lilith and was well on her way to losing Mary, never mind the actual mother who bore her, but it was Zelda. It was always Zelda. Her aunt Zee was the mother of her heart and that could never be taken away despite her losses. “I love you too, Aunt Zee. More than my toes.” 

Zelda smiled, then nodded. She was willing to accept that as confirmation that Sabrina was going to be alright. She, on the other hand, felt as if she couldn’t breathe. Knowing something might be wrong with Mary and actually recognizing it out loud were two different things. The truth was she couldn’t stand another loss any better than her niece could. Especially not Mary Wardwell.

Zelda had to fix this, come hell or high water. She didn’t care what she had to do. There would be no summoning spells for Lilith this evening only to have them fall on deaf ears. That part of this little game was over.


	9. Chapter 9

Lilith sat perched on Mary Wardwell’s bathtub, hidden in plain sight, as the woman wretched on the floor, her body exhausted from how ill she had been. It had been two days since she had dinner with Zelda Spellman and she’d been forcefully expelling the contents of her body ever since. Was it something she ate or perhaps the wine? She wondered if Zelda was ill too, then remembered she hadn’t ever called her back after she called her on Friday night to let her know she’d made it home safe. Finally, she lay down on the floor, the tiles cool and refreshing against her flushed face. It looked like blood and felt like soil that she was vomiting but she was so tired she couldn’t truly tell. She closed her eyes, glad to have a moment’s break from the horrible sensation that she’d be ill again. 

Lilith could feel Zelda summoning her but she ignored the witch, keeping careful watch over her beloved Mary instead. She was annoyed- no, beyond annoyed- with Zelda, anyway. She’d caught on that the earth demanded a soul yet instead of doing anything about it she appealed to her queen? Was her high priestess going to show such weakness at every turn? This was a test; Zelda’s first of many, and so far she was failing it. 

Mary couldn’t simply give Zelda the answer. If Zelda was to lead her coven and eventually witches everywhere into the worship of Lilith then Lilith needed her to be cunning and resourceful, to think on her own without asking her permission at every turn. Zelda would have to stop treating her power as if it were fragile and own it. 

“My dear Mary.... my sweet sister,” Lilith cooed, wishing she could help the woman in front of her. Sure, she was a demoness, but she wasn’t heartless. Unfortunately the only woman who could help Mary Wardwell was Zelda Spellman and time was running out. 

After a long moment Mary opened her eyes and began the long crawl back to her living room. She was too weak to stand, but she needed to get to the phone. She needed someone with her before things got any worse. Slowly, painfully, she put one hand in front of the other and rested on her knees, winded from the effort of moving her already frail frame. The old wooden floorboards of her house creaked underneath her weight and kept her grounded, awake, as she made the impossibly long journey. When she finally reached the living room she grabbed the cordless phone and leaned herself against the back of her favorite chair, another wave of nausea hitting her. God, she couldn’t be sick again. She wouldn’t make it to the bathroom in time. 

Mary used what little strength she had to roll her eyes, then took a deep breath. She couldn’t fathom making her way into the kitchen to retrieve a pot in which to get sick. It simply wasn’t possible. She hit the redial button on the phone, unable to remember anyone’s phone number and not thinking clearly enough to dial 911. 

“Spellman Mortuary,” the voice practically purred and Mary was instantly embarrassed. Of course Zelda was the last person she had dialed- on Friday night, when she got home from their dinner date. Well. Zelda did ask her for an update. 

“Zelda?” Mary croaked, her throat raw from vomiting. She tried to maintain some sense of decorum and waited for a response even though all she wanted to do was beg the woman for help and Gatorade. 

“Mary? Is that- are you alright?” Zelda questioned, immediately concerned. 

“No...” she muttered, allowing herself to sink back down to the floor, “I need help, please, I am so ill.”

“Of course,” Zelda nodded, though Mary couldn’t see her. “I’ll be right there.” Zelda hung up the phone before Mary had a chance to argue with her and rushed through the kitchen to grab her keys off the hook where they lived, “Hilda, I’ve got to go. Keep Sabrina IN the house, please, and... stand by. I may need your help.”

“Whatever happened, sister?” Hilda questioned, concerned, as she watched her sister pull a coat on. “Is everything alright?”

Zelda did her best to keep her patience with her little sister. It wasn’t her fault and she didn’t deserve to be yelled at. “No, everything is very much not alright. I am going to Mary’s house. If I phone you, come immediately. Something is wrong, though what, exactly, I don’t know yet.” Hilda nodded and watched her sister depart, then went back to her novel. It was no use to intervene; between Zelda and Lilith Mary was going to be alright until Zelda called on her to come. 

Mary curled up in the fetal position, clutching the phone receiver to her chest as she closed her eyes. If Zelda were on her way then at least she could sleep the twenty minutes until she got there. Mary quickly fell into a state of deep unconscious, her body starved for rest. As she slept Lilith paced the floor in front of the unlit fireplace, keeping watch over her ward. She was torn between testing Zelda and giving her the answer. The devil would’ve tested her. Did Lilith want to run her kingdom in the same spiteful way? 

Exasperated, Lilith disappeared as she heard Zelda struggle with the door. Use your magic you idiot, she thought to herself, but smiled at how worried and flustered Zelda was. That was her love, her darling priestess, who would rule at her side for all of eternity if she wanted it.... struggling to unlock the damn door like a normal middle aged woman. 

“For fucks sake Zelda,” she groaned, then unlocked the door. Zelda nearly fell into the room as she door gave way and Lilith caught a glimpse of the woman she loved so deeply. Zelda was strong, capable, powerful. She could come off as cold and unwelcoming and downright scary when she wanted to, but really, Zelda was soft and kind and silly. Those parts didn’t surface often, but when they did, Lilith loved them. 

“Mary?” Zelda muttered as she rushed to her side, immediately getting on the floor with the principal and checking for a pulse. “Mary, I need you to wake up,” Zelda whispered as she pulled the woman’s head into her lap to cradle it. “Mary....” she said soothingly as she rubbed the woman’s forearm, trying to stimulate her at all. 

Mary groaned and rolled, burying her face in Zelda’s thighs. She shouldn’t have gone to sleep; now she was too far gone to wake up. Zelda contemplated her options. Of course Mary didn’t know she was a witch... but surely they could do another memory spell when she was well again, and if she was this out of it she might not even remember on her own. Nodding her head for her own reassurance, Zelda cast the woman back into her bed. She could take better care of her there.

Now that Mary was at least laid out where Zelda could see her, not crumpled in her lap, Zelda began turning lights on in the house and warming a compress to apply to her head. Of course it wouldn’t help a thing but it might comfort the woman. Once it was warm enough Zelda returned to the bedroom and sat down on the bed beside Mary, looking her up and down. The green pallor, the bloodied lips, the cold sweats- it was all pointing to the very thing Zelda didn’t want it to be. The earth was reclaiming her, one horrible step at a time. 

It didn’t matter. Zelda had already made up her mind in the car on the way over; if she couldn’t depend on Lilith to clean up her own mess she’d do it herself and she knew exactly who would satisfy the debt: Faustus. Locked away in the deep recesses of the academy, Zelda was keeping him around in case she needed him for leverage, but this made perfect sense. She’d do it tonight at the witching hour and Mary Wardwell would be back to herself in time for school.... maybe not Monday morning, but perhaps later that week. She was not weak, she was not without agency. Lilith had left her to flounder, so she would fix it herself.

“A warm compress isn’t going to work,” Lilith spoke as she appeared from the shadows. It still took Zelda off guard, this strange, young, perfect version of her lover. 

“It is only to keep her comfortable while I clean up this mess,” Zelda spat, more angry than relieved to see her, “sometimes I think you forget she is a human being, Lilith, not some toy for you do with as you wish.”

Lilith’s eyes flashed, dark and dangerous, but she did not strike back at Zelda. “I’m aware, Zelda. Painfully so,” she sighed as she looked down at the woman in the bed, “so what is your divine plan to fix this, then?”

Zelda rolled her eyes, her disgust apparent on her face. She couldn’t help herself. “Kill Faustus, naturally. He is the one who helped to bring all this on with his little coven games. He was instrumental in Mary’s demise.... he’ll work just fine as her sacrifice.”

Lilith was impressed. She hadn’t even had to coax Zelda into killing the man , she thought of it all on her own. It truly was a flawless plan, sure to restore Mary, but Lilith wasn’t sure if Zelda was capable of such inhumanity. That was why she had to turn it into a test. Given her quick decision, however, Lilith considered it a strong pass. 

“Are you positive that you can look Faustus in the eye and slit his throat?” Lilith moved across the room to stand opposite her lover, so close she could feel the heat radiating off of Zelda’s body. 

Stone faced, Zelda replied. “Nothing would bring me more pleasure.” She watched Lilith for a moment, their eyes locking, but didn’t let the spell take hold. She didn’t have time, nor the desire at the moment. Lilith had toyed with her too much. 

“I’m going to call Sabrina to come sit with Mary for the time being. She won’t wake up, I’ve made sure of that. Now I have to go murder my husband.”

Lilith watched Zelda stalk out of the room, a new confidence in her spirit. Zelda was indeed going to take care of everything according to plan, which meant Lilith’s plan for she and Mary was right on track. Lilith loved it when things came together; and this, the new unholy trinity, was coming together beautifully.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI this chapter does involve the death of Faustus at the hand of Zelda. Just a warning! I kept it short on purpose.

Zelda closed her eyes and said a silent prayer to Lilith before she entered into the chamber that held Faustus, the man she wish she could forget. Soon enough she’d be through with him forever, never having to lay eyes on his sorry form again. Dressed in a pair of black slacks and tight black turtleneck, her hair billowing over her shoulders, she took the enchantment off the door and entered the dark lair where he was chained. 

“Zelda,” Faustus murmured, almost too weak to lift his head. She’d be lying if she said the sight didn’t give her a sick sense of satisfaction. 

“Faustus,” she countered, smirking as she felt the dagger cold against her back. She moved nearer to him, feeling like a little game before she killed him. “And how is my darling husband, our fallen high priest?”

“Well,” he managed to smirk, “and how is the bastard high priestess?”

Zelda narrowed her eyes, ready to slit his throat then and there, but she wanted him to know how wrong he was before he died. “Remarkably well, your dishonor,” she murmured in his ear as she straddled his legs, nearly sitting on his lap. “Better than you, I imagine.”

Faustus licked his bottom lip and eyed his wife as she perched on top of him, the scent of her perfume still intoxicating to his senses. “I’m much better now,” he smiled as he leaned his head back to meet her stone cold gaze. “Come to play, darling? Have you decided you can’t live without your husband?”

“Not hardly,” Zelda smiled as she sat fully on his lap, her chest nearly pressed into his, “but I did come to revel in the fact that I’m going to kill you, Faustus, and I’m going to enjoy doing it.”

Faustus tensed visibly at the statement. Zelda didn’t have it in her, but she had grown... darker. Somehow more powerful. That’s what happened when a woman went unchecked; she couldn’t control herself. “You couldn’t. You’ve never had the guts, Zelda. You’ll never do it, and you’ll never rule this coven because Lilith will see you for what you are. A cheap, pathetic pet, and nothing more.”

Zelda didn’t flinch as he insulted her. She expected that to happen. “You wish,” she smirked as she shoved the rotting hoof of their dark lord into his mouth to shut him up. “Faustus, taste your defeat. You’ve lost, and now, my dearly beloved, I am here to end you once and for all.” Zelda pulled the dagger from the back of her pants and pressed it to his neck as she grabbed him by the hair, slicing slowly, enjoying every moment, taking her sweet time. Faustus had tried to send her family into ruin; he had abused and controlled her for his own purposes, and he had nearly succeeded in taking her Mary away. Perhaps it wasn’t right to think of Mary as hers, but she did. She always would. Now, she would take him to save her. 

It was over as soon as it had begun. Faustus slumped forward in the chair as he bled out, his head slack against his neck as the warm metallic liquid pooled in her lap. Her hands were covered in blood; surely so was her face. She’d have to clean herself up before she returned to Mary’s house. “Goodnight, sweet prince,” Zelda muttered as she stood, a sense of satisfaction and power taking root deep in her core. 

Before she left the chamber she took one last look back at her husband, lifeless and still in the chair, and praised Lilith.


	11. Chapter 11

Zelda sat upright, perched against the antique four poster headboard in Mary's room, the woman still fast asleep next to her. She had long since sent Sabrina home and stayed awake all night, watching over her beloved friend, ensuring that she was still breathing and resting comfortably. It was nearly seven in the morning, but she wasn't yet ready for sleep. 

Silently, she took stock of her life. The collection of choices, of the yes and no's, both big and small, that had amounted to the woman she was. Her body was not tired, but her soul was a different story. She was always the... responsible one. The matriarch of the family who raised wayward children, the devoted sister who, though harsh, would fiercely protect her own blood. The pious one. The sensible one. The cold one. Zelda was so tired of being cold. She thought that time had ended with Lilith, but it felt different now, somehow forbidden. But Mary....

Mary groaned and turned on her side, resting her face against Zelda's thigh as she draped an arm over her lap. The color was returning to her face; a reassuring sign. Zelda rested her hand against the woman's arm, brushing her wrist softly with the pad of her thumb. It was not lost on her that she had quite literally killed for the woman, but still didn't belong in her bed. She wondered what Mary would think when she woke up; if she'd be embarrassed or ashamed or if she would simply give in, remember, and let Zelda love her as she once had. 

Feeling the weight of Zelda's arm on hers, Mary opened one eye to peek at who was in her bed with her. Upon seeing that it was Zelda, she shut her eyes again and cuddled closer to the woman, wrapping herself as fully around her as she could manage. Perhaps it wasn't proper, but she was freezing and Zelda's warmth was a welcome comfort. Consciousness, so far, was not treating her well. The overwhelming desire to vomit had left her, but she still felt akin to what she could only imagine was death. Her head hurt, her throat hurt, muscles she didn't even know she had hurt. 

"I saw that," Zelda muttered quietly as she wrapped her arm more fully around Mary, pulling the blankets up higher around both of them. "I'm glad to see you've rejoined the land of the living."

"Have I?" Mary groaned again, unmoving from her spot. "I don't feel like I have."

Zelda laughed quietly and ran her fingers gently through Mary's hair, the smallest token of comfort that she could give. "I'm afraid you have, my dear Mary. You made it through the night."

Mary lay still for a moment, then rolled onto her back and opened her eyes, the oversized sweater she was wearing draping off her shoulder. "I'm not particularly fond of the land of the living at the moment." 

Mary looked up at Zelda, a flash of familiarity catching in her brain. It was as if Zelda had been in her bed before. "Thank you.... for coming and for staying. I was a little afraid last night." 

"You had reason to be," Zelda muttered as she stifled a yawn, wishing she could lie down next to the woman, wrap an arm around her, and finally sleep. 

"Are you about to tell me this was some kind of demonic possession," Mary asked, dead pan, as she continued to look up at Zelda, tempted to pull her down to lie with her. The woman was pretty. Mary couldn't help the attraction she felt in the pit of her stomach; Zelda made Mary want her. 

"No, far worse. You were actually dead and I had to kill someone to save you," Zelda smiled pleasantly as she closed her eyes, fatigue overtaking her as she realized that Mary was going to be alright. 

"Very funny," Mary rolled her eyes, then wished she hadn't. Even that hurt. "Thank you for saving me from dying. Really. I don't know what you did but I almost feel human again today."

"I told you already," Zelda smiled and shook her head, wishing she could sleep. "If you're not opposed, I'd very much like to take you back to my house. You've got nothing to eat here. You don't need to be alone. And I need a nap."

Mary contemplated the offer, then sighed. "I don't want to put your family out... I'll be alright now that I can manage to hold my head up."

Zelda's mind flashed back to the night before with her husband at the mention of heads and holding them up. If Mary could only understand what she really had done to save her perhaps she wouldn't be so worried about decorum. "We have seven bedrooms Mary, honestly, you could hide in our house for days before anyone even realized you were there." Zelda would let her contemplate the idea, but it wasn't up for debate in her mind. Mary would come home with her so she could see to it that she was properly cared for and recovering. She could argue all she wanted but she wouldn't win. 

Mary really wasn't ready to be alone and she knew it, but could she handle being in a house with Zelda? The woman drove her positively crazy. "I.... will consider it if you insist. I'm afraid I may not be ready to be on my own." 

"Good," Zelda smiled, "I'm glad this illness didn't rob you of your senses." 

Mary rolled her eyes again and yawned as she smacked Zelda playfully on the thigh. "You know people don't normally make it into my bed this soon."

"Oh, I guess I'm just lucky," Zelda smirked, then smacked her back. "If it makes you feel any better it was dreadfully boring. You don't even so much as talk in your sleep." Of course Zelda already knew that, but she was willing to pretend that she didn't. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry to disappoint, I'll make it more exciting next time I'm not dying," Mary quipped, then rolled back into the woman next to her, perching on one elbow to look at her, her raven locks flowing freely in tendrils around her face. 

Zelda quirked one eyebrow and looked down at Mary, her stomach tied in knots. Did this woman have any clue what she did to her? "Is that a promise? Because we're still in bed..."

"Zelda Spellman," Mary smiled innocently, "are you flirting with me?"

"Please" Zelda huffed, waving her off, "I've been in bed with you for nearly ten hours. Aren't we past the point of being demure?" If there were any time not to be responsible and cold, it were now. 

"Let me shower and reconsider that notion," Mary grinned, then backed away from Zelda and crawled out of bed before she did something stupid. Zelda watched her go, exhaustion taking her over. It wasn't long before she sunk down into the bed sheets and closed her eyes, her head resting delicately on Mary's pillow.

Mary turned the shower on to warm up and quickly discarded her pajamas on the bathroom floor, lost in thought. Who was Zelda, really, and why did she have such an intoxicating hold on her? Mary had certainly flirted with the notion of being with a woman and had her fair share of crushes, but in a small town like Greendale it wasn't as if she'd had ample opportunity for a serious or lasting relationship. Now here was Zelda, this exquisite, dangerous creature, standing right in front of her. Zelda had gone from a stranger to the very thing Mary wanted next to her always in a matter of a few short meetings- it was completely crazy. Foolish. Too fast. 

Mary stepped into the shower, still feeling a little more than shaky, but was determined that cleaning herself up would help her feel better. She made quick work of bathing and washing her hair and stepped out of the shower only a few minutes later, already feeling more energized. She even felt a little hungry, but was still deathly afraid of the thought of food. 

Wrapped in nothing but a towel, Mary grabbed her discarded clothing off the floor and sauntered back to her room, half hoping to tempt Zelda a little more. She did enjoy the thought that maybe she drove the woman at least half as crazy as she drove her. 

"I feel so much-" Mary stopped talking and smiled as she caught sight of Zelda, fast asleep on her pillow. Her lips were slightly parted and one hand rested in front of her face in a state of complete unconsciousness. She wondered if Zelda had indeed stayed up all night keeping watch over her. She eyed the woman for a moment, contemplating whether she wanted to let her sleep or wake her up. After some consideration she opted for sleep and tip toed into her closet to get a new pair of leggings and a sweater to wear. Her hair had already begun to curl. Normally she would spend time taming it, coiffing it, pinning it, but she just couldn't muster the energy. It would be fine in it's naturally curly state, and it would be fine if she spent the day with Zelda in leggings instead of her usual attire. Everything felt... fine and safe with Zelda. Even Mary as her most natural self, which scared her a little bit. 

Mary was afraid of waking Zelda, so once she was dressed she went back out to the living room of her home, opting to let the woman finally get some rest. She made herself a cup of tea, still afraid of food, and sat down on the couch to read; a book she'd found in Dr. Cerberus' on the origins of Lilith. Her interest had been leaked some time ago and she bought a stack of books mentioning the demoness, but she'd never gotten around to reading them. Her conversation on Friday night with Zelda gave her inspiration to start. As she turned the pages something felt oddly, deeply familiar- much more so than simply knowing a story. Sure, she knew where Lilith came from in a very shallow conceptual way, but this felt much, much deeper. 

Mary only read forty five pages before she set the book, still open, on her chest and closed her eyes. Her long, slender legs were balanced against the back of the couch and one hand perched above her head and she slept, hard, for three more hours while Zelda napped.

When Zelda came back out into the living room, her black silk button up shirt and high waisted trousers a little wrinkled and her hair a little mussed, she spotted Mary on the couch and smiled. She'd had to convince Lilith many and evening to give up her books in favor of their bed. Of course Mary was a voracious reader as well. 

Zelda was positively starved. She hadn't meant to fall asleep before she got Mary home and both of them fed, but Mary clearly saw to it that she stayed asleep once she got herself there. "Morning Miss Mary Sunshine," Zelda cooed down at the woman on the couch as she opened one eye at first, and then the other. 

"I didn't meant to go back to sleep," Mary smiled, "had I meant to do that I would've stayed back there with you."

Zelda felt the flush creeping up her chest and across her cheeks at Mary's sweet words. "Well, you didn't," she laughed, "I need... coffee and food. How are you feeling?" 

Mary pursed her lips and nodded, then shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not vomiting up blood and... what felt like soil anymore, so, all things considered I think I'm doing pretty well." Mary stood and moved toward the woman, the desire to be near her overwhelming. Mary reached her arms out and pulled Zelda into a hug, resting her head on her chest as they embraced. They were the same height without shoes on but Zelda felt somehow.... taller. More powerful. After a moment she pulled her head back to look at Zelda, her arms still holding the woman firmly against her. 

"Thank you, Zelda. I was... afraid last night. I don't know what happened but whatever it was- that was not normal." 

Zelda nodded, wishing she could be more honest with Mary. "I'm just... glad you're alright," she smiled as she pushed a tendril of hair out of Mary's face, studying her features. Mary's breath hitched in her throat at the feel of Zelda's cool hands on her face, so gentle and soft. Mary leaned forward without thinking and pressed her lips to Zelda's firmly, sweetly. 

Zelda inhaled sharply and pulled Mary closer to her, kissing her again, this time with such force she thought their bodies might never part one another. 

"Zelda...." Mary smirked as she rested her forehead against hers, "I think you were flirting with me in bed."

Zelda rolled her eyes but grinned anyway. "Guilty," she laughed, then hugged Mary tighter to her. "I'm afraid I have found myself very, very fond of Baxter High's Principal."

"Then...." Mary smiled as she ran her hands down the length of Zelda's back, resting them on the top of her backside, "Zelda Spellman will you go to the dance with me?"

"You're insufferable, Mary Wardwell," Zelda smiled, "but yes. I will."


	12. Chapter 12

"I'm alright, honestly," Mary chided her long time friend, Catherine, as they sat in the very same booth where she and Zelda had met a week ago. She hadn't seen Zelda since she left her house late last Monday, a triple homicide in the neighboring town of Riverdale taking up the majority of her free time. Zelda had found time to text her; a behavior she hadn't expected from the younger woman. "It was just a really bad flu, I guess."

"Flu? From the sounds of it, you died and came back to life," Catherine laughed as she watched Mary check her phone, again, for the hundredth time since they'd sat down to dinner. "Is something... wrong? You've been on your phone all night. That's not like you."

Mary blushed visibly and slid her phone off the table and into her bag, embarrassed by her actions. She hated it when the teenagers she taught couldn't like her in the eye because their noses were buried in their devices, now here she was acting just like one of them. "Uh, no," Mary chirped, trying to sound casual, "just a uh... a friend. Not a friend, really - the uh, one of my student's aunts is helping me plan the dance next weekend and she's been texting me about food options, since she's making it all herself. I'm sorry. I'll put it away now, promise!" Mary held her hands up in surrender, a brilliant smile flashing across her face. 

That was a complete lie. Zelda was in the bathtub, not the kitchen, and had just finished telling Mary about all the things she'd done to herself in anticipating of seeing her again. Mary crossed her legs tightly under the table and kept the smile plastered on her face, resisting the urge to reach for her phone again. She hadn't even told Zelda goodbye. 

"You're a terrible liar, Mary Wardwell," Catherine laughed out loud as she took a sip of her red wine, raising both her eyebrows. "Now come on, who is this person that's got you so riled up and attached to your phone?"

"Oh, it is one of my student's aunts...." Mary smirked, “but you’re right, we weren’t discussing food.”

“Mary, you dog, tell me everything.” Catherine was Mary’s oldest friend and greatest confidant; many times when she felt alone in Greendale, isolated by the small town and her position within it, Catherine had been there to keep her company, make her laugh, and remind her that she was in fact not alone in the world. They’d been friends since college, going on nearly twenty five years. 

“Well....” Mary smiled, pulling her phone back out and looking for the last photo she had snapped of Zelda. “She’s remarkable, Catherine. Everything about her is just.... everything I’ve ever needed or wanted.” Mary handed the blond her phone to reveal a photo of Zelda, clad in her black turtleneck with her makeup smudged, sitting at her kitchen table staring out the window with a cup of coffee in her hand. The woman looked exquisite- otherworldly, even. 

“Oh, Mar, she’s a knockout,” Catherine teased as she handed the phone back in favor of her wine. Mary couldn’t quite place the look on her friend’s face s they talked about her new lover; it seemed one more of concern than excitement. 

“You don’t look thrilled. Jealous?” Mary quipped and Catherine reached across the small table to smack her in the arm. 

“No.... but what about Adam?” 

Mary blinked several times and raised an eyebrow, confused. Something about the name in her life seemed familiar, but she didn’t know why. Who was Adam? 

“Adam?” She questioned, completely lost.

Catherine frowned and shook her head, “yes Mary, Adam? The man you were set to marry less than six months ago? The man you’ve been with for the last three years?”

Mary’s heart sank into her stomach. She had no idea what Catherine was talking about. She didn’t have a fiancée! She had never even been close to marriage, and she, surely, had not carried on a relationship with anyone for the last three years. Unless.... of course, it was something else she had forgotten. 

“I....” Mary muttered, trying to think of something to say, “you know, Catherine, I’m not feeling well. Must be something left over from that stomach bug. I.... think I need to go home.”

Confused, Catherine nodded, “go. I’ll get the check, babe. But.... this conversation isn’t over, Mary. Not by a long shot.”

“No,” Mary said seriously as she stood, staring her friend in the eyes, “I’m afraid you’re right, it’s not.” Catherine registered the hurt and confusion in her best friend’s eyes, but didn’t press her luck trying to get her to stay. Mary really did look like she was going to be ill. 

“Call me tomorrow, please, to let me know you’re alright.”

Mary nodded and rushed out of the restaurant, feeling as though she might faint. Married? She was engaged? Who was this man? More importantly, where was this man? She couldn’t help the sinking feeling in her chest. It had something to do with Zelda, she knew it. Her life had been turned upside down ever since that woman had entered it. She was willing to ignore a few things she couldn’t explain, but a disappeared fiancé and a whole life she didn’t remember? Something bigger was at work here and she was determined to get to the bottom of it. 

She heard her phone buzz in her purse again as she headed down the lonely interstate to her house, nestled in the woods between Greendale and Riverdale, but she ignored it. She knew it would be Zelda. She didn’t want to talk to her right now. She wasn’t sure, truly, if she ever wanted to talk to her again. What kind of wicked games was that woman playing on her? 

As soon as Mary was inside the house she was tempted to tear the whole thing apart, looking for clues of her old life. “The jewelry box,” she muttered as she poured herself a glass of whiskey and headed towards her room, leaving her purse with her phone inside discarded in the living room. She took a long swig of the brown liquor before she stepped across the threshold into her bedroom, looking for a little liquid courage in the bottom of the glass. Surely there would be no ring. 

She opened the top of antique jewelry armoire and poured over its contents. Diamond earrings from her mother, her grandmother’s pearl necklace. Their wedding rings, stored together in a delicate wooden box that her grandfather had carved. The necklace with the St. Nicholas charm her father had given her when she’d announced that she’d gotten the job in Greendale and would be moving away from her family. Everything was in place, and she remembered each story attached to each piece of jewelry. There was no wayward ring in there. 

Mary felt like she could breathe a little easier. Surely if she loved this man she’d put the ring he’d apparently given her with her most precious keepsakes, right? 

She kept digging, in to the second drawer, and that’s when she spotted it. A small black box tucked in the corner with a silly heart drawn on the top of it. Oh god. Mary didn’t recognize the box. Slowly, carefully, she pulled the offending item out of her armoire as if it might reach out and bite her. Deciding she wasn’t ready for the truth quite yet, she set the box on top of her dresser, grabbed her glass, and walked back to the kitchen. She needed more whiskey if she was going to be able to handle this; her world closing in around her. 

Restlessly, she grabbed her phone out of her purse before she poured another drink and sat down at her kitchen table, resting her head in one hand. She checked her texts and sure enough, Zelda had sent several more messages. She looked at the last one, then decided to reply to get the woman off her back. 

[Zelda Spellman] Hope your dinner with Catherine was divine. Missing you, but working late this evening. Sleep well. xxZ 

Mary felt a pang of longing in her heart; could this woman who was so good to her- so very devoted to her already- really he this duplicitous and nefarious? She typed out a quick response, but then immediately saw Zelda typing back. Fuck, Zelda, take a hint. 

[Me] Dinner was great but cut short. Not feeling totally well tonight. You sleep well too. 

[Zelda Spellman] Are you alright? You’re not sick to your stomach again? Do I need to come over? 

Mary rolled her eyes, not in the mood for her advances. She typed back another quick response and threw her phone across the room to the couch. She did feel sick to her stomach. How could she not? She felt as if she were being lied to, betrayed. Like she was some sort of pawn in a game she didn’t even know she was playing. 

[Me] No, just a headache. Headed to bed. 

Mary downed another pour of whiskey, then went back into the bedroom. She had to know what was in the box. She eyed it for a moment as if she really were judging whether it could harm her, then ripped it open. There was a diamond ring, a single solitaire, sitting delicately on the white pillow. 

Where had it come from and how did it get into her jewelry box? Mary closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to fight the wave of nausea threatening to wash over her. She picked the ring up and examined it closely as she finally stepped out of her shoes, discarding them by the doorway. It was a beautiful ring. It just wasn’t hers.

After a moment she set the ring back in its box and headed towards her closet, tearing through her clothes to get to the shelf at the back where her scrapbooks and sentimental items were kept. It didn’t take her long at all to find a box containing what seemed like hundreds of letters and photos. 

Unable to believe her eyes, Mary sat down cross legged on her bedroom floor and dumped the contents of the box in front of her, the stationary, cards, and photos forming a pile in front of her legs. 

She picked up an envelope and looked at the masculine handwriting on the front. 

To My Mary 

She ran her index finger across her named, scrawled in a foreign hand. Who’s Mary was she? She opened the envelope and found a card with a short note inside: 

Dear Mar,  
Things are busy here in Tanzania but I’ll be home in three weeks- it was confirmed today. Found this necklace in a marketplace and thought of you. I love you, darling. See you soon.

Love, Adam 

Mary nearly choked on the drink she had just taken. Dear God, this man really had existed in her life. Not only had he existed in it, but he loved her? Mary searched through the notes until she found one in her own hand, a note scrawled on a post it. 

A,  
I did not appreciate your little joke this morning. Fake tarantulas in the shower? Really? You could have left that particular souvenir in Australia! Can’t wait for dinner tonight, even if you are a bit of a jerk.

Love you, M 

Mary held the note to her heart, wishing she could remember what had caused her to write it. Who was this man she’d allowed into the most intimate parts of her life? Had they lived together? Mary ran back to her closet in search of any sign that he’d been there- a pair of shoes or a discarded sock or an old flannel. Anything that would let her know she hadn’t completely lost her mind. She knew he was real, of course, there were hundreds of photos of them- laughing, making faces, kissing. Even one she assumed he must have snapped of her asleep on her stomach, her long raven hair laid out messily on her pillow- with the diamond ring on her left hand. She wondered if that photo had come from the night he asked her to be his wife. She wondered what that night was like. 

Was she happy with Adam? Did he make her feel the same way Zelda did? Or better? Mary searched to no avail. Of course, Lilith had discarded all of his clothing and personal belongings after the dark lord had killed him. It was too painful to be in the house with his things. 

“Damn it,” Mary shouted and pounded the wall of her closet with her fists. Finally, the tears came, hot and wet and heavy on her cheeks. There was so much she couldn’t remember from the last year of her life but this? This was too much. 

Almost instantly, a decision was made. Mary slipped the diamond ring on her left finger, then gathered a few photos and love letters and headed out her front door. Zelda needed to explain everything, and she needed to do it right now. Mary was so furious she felt like she could strangle the woman and not once regret it. An eye for an eye, right? She didn’t know why she was so convinced that Zelda had something to do with this, but she felt it in the aching pit in her stomach. The woman was somehow not without involvement or fault. 

Mary took a moment to breathe as she parked outside of Spellman Mortuary, the old house looming over her in the glow of the moon. It looked creepy at night, but then again, the Spellman family was a little creepy. A characteristic Mary had once found charming if not a little kooky now made her deeply uncomfortable. If she went into the Spellman house to confront Zelda would she ever come out of it? Is that what had happened to Adam? 

Mary pushed the thoughts out of her head and grabbed the photos and letters from the passenger seat of her car. Whatever the outcome, she had to confront Zelda.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading and for being so sweet in the comments!!! I have loved reading what you have to say about the story so far!

“Mary! What an unexpected-“ 

Mary cut Zelda off as she pushed past her into the foyer of her home, letters and photos clutched in one hand. “We need to talk. Now.” She was holding back the tears threatening to fall again; she didn’t want to cry in front of Zelda. She didn’t want to show any emotion at all in front of the woman anymore. 

Zelda furrowed her brow and pushed her chin into her neck, confused. “What’s the matter?” She asked seriously, crossing her arms over her chest as she spoke. 

Mary contemplated asking her if they could sit, then rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to ask her for anything, either. “This,” Mary spat, shoving the letters and photos into Zelda’s forearms. “You need to explain all of this.”

Zelda watched the assorted papers as the floated to her feet. She hadn’t known to catch them. As she studied the photos on the ground, recognition dawned on her. “Of course....” Zelda muttered as she bent to pick up a photo of Mary and Adam standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, Adam’s arms wrapped protectively around her waist. “Adam.”

“So you do know,” the brunette woman scoffed and nearly turned on her heel to leave, then thought better of it. “Zelda Spellman, you’ve got about ten minutes to explain yourself before I leave this house and call the police.”

Zelda had to bite back a bitter smirk as she heard Sabrina descend the stairs. Mary Wardwell really thought the police could help her? 

“Aunt Zee are you alright? I thought I- Miss Wardwell!” Sabrina grinned as she took the last six stairs two at a time to greet her favorite teacher. Sabrina ran to the woman and hugged her tightly are round the waist, causing Mary to stiffen in place. Sabrina hadn’t seen her since she unconscious in bed. 

“Sabrina now is not a good time,” Zelda warned, eyeing her niece, “please go back upstairs.”

“But I just wante-“

“Sabrina I said go back upstairs right this instant,” Zelda Snapped, turning on her niece. Sabrina pouted, but silently released the woman and skulked all the way back up the stairs to her bedroom. 

“Mary I can and I will explain everything,” Zelda muttered as she bent again to pick up the rest of the photos, “and I’m sorry about Sabrina. She was worried about you.”

“Really?” Mary asked bitterly, “I’m shocked she wasn’t rooting for my demise. Isn’t that what you Spellmans do?”

Zelda started to snap back at her, then stopped. “If you’ll sit with me in the kitchen, we can talk.”

“Thank you, but I’d prefer to be somewhere where there are no sharp objects.”

Zelda rolled her eyes and huffed, “For fucks sake Mary this is a mortuary, there are sharp objects in every room. Now follow me to the kitchen if you’d like to talk. Otherwise, the front door is right there.”

Mary contemplated her options, then silently followed behind Zelda, who had already started down the hallway to the kitchen. Zelda didn’t invite her to sit down; instead she sat the pile of Mary’s things on the table and simply began making tea for the both of them. The tea Zelda was making was meant to relax Mary’s senses; make her more open to believing the things she was about to hear. After a moment, Zelda sat a cup down in front of the woman, then took an exaggerated sip from her own cup to let her know that the brew was indeed safe to drink. 

“I know this must be very... confusing for you,” Zelda said gently as she joined Mary at the table. 

“Please don’t try to comfort me,” Mary chided as she fiddled with the ring on her left hand, “just tell me what the hell is going on.”

Zelda took another sip of her tea and nearly choked on it as she noticed the ring. “I uh.... of course. There’s no easy way to say any of this, and I doubt you’ll believe me- but everything I have jokingly said to you since we began speaking is true, Mary.”

Mary raised an eyebrow and finally took a sip of her tea. “Go on.”

“The car accident you were in.... was no accident. Mary, there are witches in Greendale. I am one of them. My sister is one of them. Sabrina is one of them.”

“You act as if I’ve never read a history book, Zelda. I’m fully aware of your family’s history in Greendale and the lore that surrounds it. What on earth does that have to do with the fact that six months ago I was getting married?” Zelda saw the desperation in the woman’s eyes and knew simply telling her wouldn’t be enough. She would have to show her. 

“Mary.... I know this is asking a lot. But can you trust me one more time? I need to take you somewhere.”

Mary knee she shouldn’t trust the woman, but something in her wanted to. Hadn’t Zelda saved her life just last week? “Where?”

“The Academy of Unseen Arts. It will make much more sense if you allow me to show you what happened. Please. If you never want to speak to me again after we leave I will see to it that you are left alone. For good.” 

Mary eyed the woman, unsure of what she should do. On the one hand, she wanted to reach out and slap her. On the other, she wanted to allow Zelda to take her by the hand and somehow make all of this make sense and to make it ok again. She just wasn’t sure if Zelda was capable. 

“I.....” she debated as she took another long sip of her tea, “fine... fine. You have one hour and if this doesn’t start making better sense, I’m out, Zelda. I’m done, and the authorities handle this.”

Zelda nodded and stood immediately, motioning for the woman to follow her. “Understood,” she said clearly, then practically dragged Mary out of the kitchen. 

Once at the academy, Zelda held on to Mary’s hand as they entered through the front doors. “Please, for your sake, stay close to me. Mortals are not very welcome here, but... I’m in charge now, and no one will harm you if you’re with me.” Mary nodded, completely taken aback by the sights in front of her. 

As they entered the main hall, Mary gasped at the sight of the crumbling sculpture of Baphomet. It looked as though someone had taken a sledge hammer to it. “Apologies, doing a bit of remodeling,” Zelda smirked at the sight of the destroyed idol, knowing one of Lilith would soon be erected. As they passed the sculpture, two young students crossed their path. 

“Good evening, high priestess,” the students curtsied to Zelda, who nodded and smiled. 

“Good evening girls,” she said warmly, then kept walking. 

“High... what?” Mary muttered, completely shocked. Zelda ignored her comment and rushed her to her office where she closed and locked the door. 

“I know...” she put at hand up as Mary immediately began to question her, “I know you have a lot of questions. But. Please. Just... watch. And then we can talk.”

A little more afraid than not now, Mary sat down in front of the font of water where Zelda instructed and peered into the clear pool as Zelda stirred its contents with her pinky and muttered something under her breath in what sounded like Latin. Almost immediately, memories began to play in the shallow pool as if they were being projected straight from Mary’s head. 

For the next four hours Zelda paced, nearly wearing a hole in the old wooden floorboards of her office with her black patent leather pumps while Mary watched the last three years of her life play out in fine detail before her very eyes. She saw every hello and goodbye between she and Adam; every moment from their first flirtation in the public library while she was doing research for her book to the moment Lilith said goodbye and avenged his death by ripping out her own rib. Mary reached down to feel her own ribcage while she watched, taking note of the absence. She watched her own murder, how Lilith had lived her life. She watched Zelda fall madly in love with her, and how much Zelda’s heart had broken when she had been betrayed by Lilith; Zelda had thought she loved Mary Wardwell, and she was devastated when she found out the truth the first time. Again and again and again she watched Zelda come to her aid; first as Mary, then as Lilith, and finally, last weekend, when she had killed her own husband to save her life. She watched Lilith. She hated her and then, slowly, she fell as in love and reverence with her as Zelda had. By the time Mary watched Lilith descend in to hell in the font she had wretched, sobbing for the loss of her own innocence and life, the loss of Adam, the loss of what she had with Zelda.

When it was finally over, she rested her head in her hands and cried harder than she ever had in her entire life, her body shaking from the force of her sobs. Zelda rushed to her side and knelt at her feet, wrapping her arms around her knees. “I am so sorry... I tried so hard to protect you, Mary, and when I couldn’t I tried so hard to protect you from knowing.... I was selfish to ever involve myself with you again. I should have let you be...”

Zelda couldn’t help herself. She felt the tears collecting in her own eyes as she silently begged for Mary to look at her or hit her or to do anything at all besides sob. Everything she had done to try to protect the one thing she loved most had wound up to be the very actions that broke her. “I’m so sorry, Mary, I’m so sorry..” she muttered as she rested her head against Mary’s legs, letting her tears fall. 

Mary couldn’t move. She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t reassure Zelda. All she could do, for the moment, was cry. Finally, Zelda wiped her tears and collected herself off the floor. She contemplated, for a short moment, wiping the woman’s memory all over again, but how many times could they make this same stop on this sick, twisted merry go round? No. She had been complicit in this and now she would live with the consequences. She knew that everything had a price. Her price for playing this little game with Lilith was Mary. 

After another few minutes, Mary’s retches turned to quiet sobs, and then to soft breathing as she tried to catch her breath. She was exhausted, confused, and devastated, not to mention completely freaked out. It was going to take a very long, long time to process all that Zelda had just showed her- if she was even mentally capable. Slowly, she lifted her head and ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it out of her face. 

“Zelda...” she muttered quietly, trying to hold down the hiccups that had just surfaced.

“Yes, Mary?” Zelda asked, just as quietly, as she stood behind the woman, facing the door, trying to hold in her own emotions. 

“Take me home, please.”

Zelda nodded silently, then opened the door to indicate that they could leave. Mary stood and straightened her sweater but didn’t bother with her makeup, if there were even any left on her face. She felt numb; almost as if she had died all over again, except she wanted Zelda. Through the entire bizarre, horrific ordeal, Zelda had been the only one to keep her in mind. Zelda had fought for her. Zelda had killed for her. Zelda had loved her. 

Mary looked at Zelda as she passed her, the sparkle in her normally vibrant blue eyes completely dulled, and grabbed her hand. “To your home. To stay. With you.”

Zelda nodded again as she squeezed Mary’s hand gently, “of course, Mary. Of course. Anything you need, my love.”

As they walked side by side, hand in hand out of the academy, Mary felt like, with time, she might be able to breathe again. Zelda would do anything she needed. Mary believed that.


	14. Chapter 14

Zelda sat on the edge of the bed in the guest room in her flowered kimono and black silk night gown, her hair pulled back in a careless bun, as she waited for Mary to get out of the shower. She had pulled an array of pajamas for the woman to wear; night gowns, sweaters, even some of Sabrina's old flannel pajamas. Zelda was exhausted down to her bones, but she would stay awake to talk, or not talk, for as long as Mary needed.

Finally, the woman stepped out of the bathroom in a towel, her hair ringing wet around her shoulders, dripping down her back. "I've brought you pajamas, and then I'll leave you be if you'd like," Zelda said quietly as she tried not to stare at Mary. 

"Thank you," Mary did her best to smile as she moved toward the woman on the bed, also trying not to stare. Zelda looked exquisite in her night clothes with no make up on. This was not exactly how Mary had envisioned seeing her the first time, but she was beautiful nonetheless. "I look forward to a time we can just .... spend the night together. Under normal circumstances." 

Zelda felt like her heart might burst out of her chest as Mary began to sort through her available pajama options. "Are you implying that is still an option?" 

Mary stopped what she was doing, a short black nightgown in her hand, and stared at Zelda with a frown on her face. "You know, for a woman as smart as you are, sometimes you're awfully thick headed."

Zelda laughed quietly at the comment and rolled her eyes, concentrating hard on not reaching out to touch the woman. "I am not. I just... have taken so much for granted..."

"Maybe this," Mary muttered, "will answer your question." Mary dropped the night gown on the bed and moved closer to Zelda, leaning over the woman to press her lips against hers. Soft at first, the kiss quickly grew passionate and hungry as Mary moved to straddle Zelda's lap. 

Zelda's hands quickly found Mary's waist as she tugged the towel off of the woman and discarded it on the floor, their tongues locked in a battle for dominance. Zelda pulled the woman closer to her, her chest pressed against her body as she abandoned her mouth in favoring of peppering kisses along her jawline and down her neck. 

Mary wrapped her arms around Zelda's neck and let out a low moan, then spotted the ring still on her left hand. Her stomach lurched, the nausea returning as memories from the night flooded her mind again. Zelda felt the woman tense on her lap and stopped immediately, pulling away from her to look her in the eye. "Mary, we don't... have to do this," she said seriously as she noticed the tears in her eyes. 

"I want to. I want you," she sighed as she slid the ring off and held it in her hand, "I'm just.... overwhelmed." 

Zelda pulled the woman against her body again and held her tight, stroking her back gently with her thumb and forefinger. "Why don't we do this? Why don't we get you dressed and lie down? It's been a long day for both of us."

"You won't leave me, will you?" Mary asked quickly, a hint of panic in her voice.

"No, my love, I won't leave you if you don't want me to," Zelda smiled against her neck as she held the woman to her, "I will never leave you."

Mary modded, then crawled off of Zelda's lap. Zelda excused herself to make them both some more tea and promptly lit a cigarette the moment she left the room. Mary looked around as she dressed herself, studying the photos on the dresser while Zelda was gone. There were several of people she didn't recognize, many that looked like they were at least a hundred years old, and one of Zelda as a young woman, her long red hair blowing in the breeze as she laughed, her head thrown all the way back. Mary had never seen her so happy or carefree. She picked it up and held it in one hand, stroking Zelda's face with her index finger. She thought, before tonight, that she could love this woman. Now she knew she already did. 

Finally she sat the photo back down in its place and slid into the black silk night gown, then returned her towel to the bathroom. One by one she folded the other pajama options and set them in the wing-backed chair in the corner of the room, then began trying to comb through her hair with her fingers. It would be a mess of curls by morning, but knowing what she knew now, it didn't matter. Zelda had already seen every part of her. That made her feel a little uncomfortable given that she couldn't remember having done the same with Zelda, but she'd get used to it. They would rebuild. They had to. 

Zelda opened the door and slid back into the room holding a tray containing an antique teapot and two cups, some biscuits, and a plate of crackers and cheese. "I thought you could use something to eat," she smiled softly, then nearly dropped the tray as she looked Mary up and down. "I'm sorry," she muttered, embarrassed, as she realized what she had done, but didn't stop staring. 

Mary laughed out loud, then bit her lip. "It's alright Zelda, I knew you thought I was attractive even before this evening," she laughed again as she moved out of the way of the desk by the bed so Zelda could set the tray down somewhere, "I'm only sorry I can't keep it together long enough to enjoy your reaction to my being in your nightgown." 

Zelda watched her out of the corner of her eye as she poured them both a cup of tea. "There will be other nights," she purred. "You promised." 

"I did," Mary said seriously, "and I meant it." Mary moved to kiss Zelda on the cheek, then stole a biscuit off the tray before sitting on the bed to take her tea. She watched Zelda intensely as the woman sat next to her, marveling at her beauty. Nine months with this creature, living their lives together every day, falling in love, fighting, sleeping, making love, and she couldn't remember any of it. Who's house did they usually sleep at? Did Sabrina and Hilda and Ambrose know? Mary had to know more. 

"Zelda can we play a game?"

Zelda furrowed her brow and rolled her eyes. "You clearly remember nothing about dating me for nine months. I hate games." She took a sip of her tea and looked at the woman over her cup, both eyebrows raised in anticipation. 

"Oh stop it," Mary laughed, playfully smacking her in the leg, then running a hand up her thigh just to feel how smooth her skin was. 

"If it's that kind of game then yes," Zelda muttered under her breath, her tea cup still at her mouth. 

"It's not the kind of game," Mary chided, her hand still on the woman's thigh, "but I do like knowing that that thigh is mine. I want to play twenty questions." 

At that Zelda rolled her eyes and stood up, forcing Mary to move her hand. She set her tea cup on the table, then put a piece of cheese on a cracker and handed it to Mary. "Please eat, and oh goody, I play this nearly every morning with Sabrina at the kitchen table." Zelda feigned disgust, but discarded her robe to reveal her strappy nightgown and crawled into bed and turned on her side to face Mary, propping herself up on her elbow. Mary looked down at her chest, a considerable amount of cleavage showing. 

"Ok...." Mary smirked as she swallowed the cheese and cracker, then took a quick sip of tea and discarded it on the desk and turned to face Zelda on the bed, sitting up with her legs extended. "First question. Do you always dress like that for bed?"

"Yes," Zelda rolled her eyes, "unless I'm ill, in which case you'll be lucky to catch me in anything other than a sweatshirt and leggings. But you won't be invited over for that. Next."

"Mmmm," Mary muttered, distracted by Zelda's nightgown, "did your family know we were together?"

"Yes," Zelda responded more thoughtfully as she stifled a yawn, "you spent the majority of your time over here with us. Or.. Lilith did, I guess. But I thought it was you. I didn't want to tell Sabrina at first because I knew how much she loved and looked up to you as her teacher and I didn't want to spoil that for her, but she uh... well, she caught us one day in my bedroom." Zelda blushed furiously at the memory, her skin flushing a bright pink from her forehead down to her cleavage at the thought. "Are you ready to lie down and turn off the light?"

Mary practically cackled at the thought. "I'll turn out the light and lie down with you if you tell me what we were caught doing." 

"I wonder if I can find a spell to bring your memories back" Zelda laughed as she reached over Lilith, practically burying the woman's face in her breasts as she did it, to turn out the light on the desk, then pulled the woman down into her arms. Mary settled in Zelda's arms under the covers, lying her head on her chest in the darkness. 

"Oh come on, just tell me. I was there too, you know!"

"Oh, I know," Zelda laughed, finding it much easier to let loose a little in the dark. She reached up and began to run her fingers through Mary's damp hair, her long nails raking softly against her scalp. "We were uh- well you were- quite happily engaged in breakfast. Between my thighs. Then Sabrina nearly lost hers in the middle of my bedroom floor." 

Mary felt the warmth growing between her own thighs at the mention of being intimate with Zelda, but she was enjoying talking to the woman far too much to act on it at the moment. "Poor kid," she muttered, "what a way to find that out."

"Everybody has sex" Zelda laughed nonchalantly, "after she got over the shock she was thrilled to have you here. She got really close to you, you know." 

"I was always fond of Sabrina," Mary mused as she felt Zelda's hand come to a rest on her lower back and she snuggled deeper into her chest. "Next question. Where was our favorite date spot?" 

"The old cafe. Other than that... we didn't date much. Not the old fashioned way. That's why I took you there last week. I guess a part of me was hoping you would remember." Zelda yawned again and closed her eyes as she rested her chin against the top of Mary's head, taking in the scent of her own shampoo in her hair. 

"One more question before we go to sleep," Mary said quietly as she yawned, too. 

"Yes?" Zelda muttered sleepily.

"Did we say I love you?"

"Every chance we got."

Mary stayed quiet for a long time, contemplating her options. She felt compelled to say it, but she was so confused. Her whole world had been turned upside down in the blink of an eye. Everything she thought she knew was wrong. Finally, she spoke. 

"I'm... not ready for that yet, Zelda," she murmured, her heart pounding in her chest, "I want to remember. I want to go back to that. But I don't yet." 

Zelda pulled the woman as close to her as she could and held her tight, refusing to let her go anywhere. "Keep asking me questions, and I will keep telling you. Better yet, Mary, I will keep showing you. One day, we will say it again. But for now, we can just live it."

"Zelda?" 

"Yes Mary?" Zelda laughed. She just wanted to go sleep, but Mary was so cute she couldn't resist her. 

"Will you still go to the dance with me next weekend?"

"Yes Mary, I will still go to the dance with you next weekend."

Satisfied with their game, Mary closed her eyes and fell asleep, safe in Zelda's arms.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I.... don’t know what happened. 
> 
> Actually I do know what happened and so does she. There’s a certain someone to blame for the sex AND the fluff. You can thank her or hang her. Your choice.

Lilith wanted to rip the head from Mary Wardwell's body. She wanted to throw her in front of a moving car. Then she wanted to find that good for nothing little pawn of the false God, Catherine, and rip her limb from limb. And Zelda? Oh, the divinely wicked things she wanted to do to Zelda. Didn't Zelda realize just to whom she belonged? Didn't she realize whom she was supposed to worship? Whose orders she was supposed to follow? Of course.... Lilith hadn't given her any orders to follow. Or really shown herself as her Queen... or the divine leader of her religion. But that was entirely beside the point. What in Her own unholy name had Zelda been thinking showing Mary her whole entire ugly story? Was Zelda trying to ruin everything? And then, of course, to take Mary back and parade her around like that. Zelda was just being spiteful because she was lonely. Or was she?

Lilith knew the answer to that. Lilith had known the answer to this little game with Zelda as soon as she had descended back into hell. There was to be no Lilith and Zelda if Lilith were not in the human form of Mary Wardwell. Of course, Zelda didn't understand the ways in which Mary Wardwell and Lilith were linked... yet. And they were inextricably and eternally linked, for they were one in the same. Two sides of the same coin, one could say. It simply wasn't time for Zelda, much less Mary, to find that out. Damn it all to hell, Zelda, why did the woman have to be so stubborn? 

Lilith would simply have to make an appearance. She would have to guide Zelda back to the academy. Keep her busy. Give her some sort of nugget to give her some new sense of purpose and concentration as she led to coven into the newfound worship of yours truly. It wasn't quite time for the church of night to go into the full fledged worship of Lilith but now sweet little Zelda had foiled the whole plan for the unholy trinity. Lilith would just have to distract her long enough to get it back on track. But how? Lilith contemplated in silent, frustrated thought as she watched the two women sleep on top of each other like a pile of puppies. 

Part of her heart longed for Zelda; she longed to be back in the human form she had come to know so well, back in her arms, back in their old habits. The other half of her heart simply wanted to rip Zelda's straight out of her chest. Dissatisfied with both options, Lilith huffed loudly before she gave up on watching the two sleep. She would deal with them later. 

Zelda woke up to a mouth full of black curls as Mary lay sprawled on top of her, the majority of her hair in Zelda's face. Zelda did her best to get the hair out of her mouth and roll her shoulder, which was completely asleep, without waking Mary. She opened one eye to peek at the old alarm clock on the nightstand, which read 5:30 am, and groaned. She had an 8:00 appointment with one of the families from the Riverdale murders. She'd have to shower and get her hair done in time for breakfast at 7:30 which meant she might as well not go back to sleep.

She did her best to look down at the tiny woman on top of her and smiled, content for the first time in months. Even dead asleep, Mary weighed very little. Her hair made up most of her bulk and this morning it was positively crazy, extending out from her scalp in wild ringlets from having dried naturally. Zelda rested a gentle hand on her back, drawing circles in the middle of her spine with her index finger. 

Mary groaned in protest, but placed a gentle kiss in the middle of Zelda's cleavage anyway. "Mmm morning," Zelda whispered as she felt Mary's lips on her body, a familiar feeling stirring in her core.

"Morning yourself," Mary groaned, keeping her face buried. The woman did hate mornings. She always had. Even waking up next to Zelda couldn't help that. "It's not even light out Zelda, good God," she complained as she opened one eye, then closed it again and moved onto her own pillow. 

Zelda rolled over to spoon the woman and smiled as she found her neck, kissing the soft skin. "I can make it a good morning if you want me to..." she whispered as her hands found Mary's thighs. She didn't have much time- but she could find a little to spare. 

Mary rolled onto her back, smiling up at the woman. "I wouldn't be opposed," she grinned as the nightgown she had borrowed slipped off of her shoulder. "I wouldn't be opposed at all." Mary pulled Zelda in for a long kiss, tangling her fingers in her red locks as quickly as their mouths connected. She had dreamed all night, both horrible and wonderful dreams, but sleep had done her good. 

Zelda made quick work of repositioning herself, crawling on top of Mary and straddling her thighs, her own night gown riding up around her waist to reveal her black lace underwear. Mary moaned under her breath as Zelda's lips left hers and the woman kissed across her jawline and down her neck, outlining the silk across her collarbone and cleavage.

Mary ran her hands along Zelda's torso, working to pull the night gown down off her arms. Zelda sat up to help her, revealing her bare chest. Mary stared, awe struck by the woman on top of her. "You're... lovely," she muttered as she swallowed hard and pulled Zelda back down to her, capturing her lips again as she pushed a thigh between her legs, grinding it against Zelda's center. Zelda moaned, her body falling immediately into a rhythm with Mary's. The woman underneath could feel her dampness through her panties; it was clear how much she wanted her. 

"You woke up in a good mood," Mary laughed as she tugged on the hem of Zelda's underwear, trying to get them off of her. Zelda obliged and crawled off of Mary, kicking out of her underwear and sliding out of her nightgown. 

"Hard not to when you're in bed next to me," Zelda smiled as Mary did the same, tossing her borrowed nightgown on the floor next to the bed. Mary propped herself up on one elbow to study Zelda's body as she lie on her back, arms now resting above her head. She wanted to study every inch of her body; to take it all in and memorize every piece and part so she'd never forget it again. She watched carefully as Zelda breathed in and out, the way her lungs expanded beneath her ribcage, the way freckles danced across lily white skin, drawing a map across her stomach to foreign lands Mary wanted to explore. 

Silently, Mary trailed a finger down the middle of Zelda's torso, eliciting a soft moan as her hand disappeared below the covers. "Mary..." Zelda smirked as her lips parted and she gasped as she felt Mary's hand graze her center. 

"Yes, Zelda?" Mary purred in her ear as she wrapped herself around the woman and began to stroke her clit with two fingers. Zelda closed her eyes and gripped the bed sheets with one hand, the other wrapping itself around Mary's waist. Zelda concentrated on her breathing, not wanting to get carried away too quickly. She wanted to reciprocate, to touch Mary, but Mary quickly grabbed her hand and placed it back above her head. "Please, Zelda... just let me watch you." 

Zelda nodded silently as her legs parted automatically to allow Mary's hand more access. Mary delighted in how wet the woman was. She watched Zelda's face carefully as her expression intensified at the feel of her index finger pressing against her entrance; she wanted to know exactly what made her lover tick. Mary slid one finger inside of Zelda, and then another. By the sharp intake of breath followed by the low moan, she guessed Zelda liked it. Slowly, softly, she worked her core, sliding her fingers gently in and out of her as she watched her chest flush and her head slide further back on the pillow. 

"Fuck," Zelda groaned as Mary quickened the pace and found the pulse point on her neck, kissing and nibbling as she kept her ministrations below the covers. "Mary, I'm not-" Zelda shuddered, unsure of how long she'd last if Mary kept up the way she was going. 

"Come for me, Zelda," she muttered in her ear, "come apart in my hands." Mary's voice was low and dangerous, the way Zelda had heard it so many times before. The woman could be soft and sweet; caring beyond measure when she wanted to, but she could also take control of the younger woman like no other person she'd been with before in her life. There was something about Mary that made Zelda want to give in. She bit down hard on her lip to keep from shouting as she felt the first wave of pleasure wash over her, quick and hard as Mary slid a third finger inside of her and curved her hand upwards. 

"Mary, fu- Mary," Zelda moaned breathlessly as she tangled the sheet around her hand, gripping it tightly. As the second wave hit her she opened her mouth and threw her head back, nearly hitting it on the headboard as she let out a long sigh. Sabrina's room was just across the hall, so she couldn't be too loud or she'd wake her niece for a whole new experience of embarrassment. 

Mary slowed her pace as she felt Zelda's contractions around her hand calming, then gently removed her fingers from her body and rested them on her stomach. "You might be the sexiest woman I have ever, ever seen" she purred as she kissed and sucked Zelda's neck, not wanting to be done with her. 

Zelda did her best to catch her breath, then pushed Mary back on the bed and crawled on top of her, almost instantly devouring her neck. "My my, what's gotten in to you?" She half laughed, half moaned as Zelda nibbled and kissed across her collarbone.

"Shut up," Zelda demanded as she found her nipple and sucked it into her mouth, the sensitive flesh hardening on the tip of her tongue. She pinned the older woman's hands above her head and worked her way down her body, nibbling and sucking until she got to her pelvic bone. Then, she paused to look up at Mary to be sure she was alright. Mary's eyes, a vibrant blue, were locked on hers. Slowly, Zelda pushed her thighs apart and lapped at her clit, eliciting a loud moan as the woman tangled her hands roughly in her red hair. 

Mary instantly took over, guiding Zelda's mouth where she needed it most. Zelda teased her exquisitely, darting her tongue in and out of her entrance, taking her time to massage her clit with her tongue in long, languid strokes as she slid two fingers inside of her and thrust upward to the hit the spot she knew the woman liked best. Zelda knew and loved every part of her body and she drew out her torture, holding Mary on the edge until she could barely stand it. Finally, she quickened her pace and focused on lapping at Mary's clit with just enough pressure until the woman shuddered and came against her hand, biting on her own to keep from screaming. The biting did little good; Mary still let out a moan loud enough to wake even the dead inhabitants of the Spellman household. 

Satisfied, Zelda rested against her stomach. "Mary I—" she paused, biting her tongue. She knew Mary wasn't ready to say I love you, but she had grown so used to saying it that she had almost forgotten. 

"Zelda...." Mary muttered quietly as she tried to catch her breath.

Zelda looked up at the woman, trying to fight the tears that were coming despite her best efforts. 

"Zelda, I love you."

At that, Zelda climbed back up the length of the bed and pulled Mary into her arms, kissing her hard. "And I love you, Mary Elizabeth Wardwell."

Mary couldn't help herself. She had to laugh. "Of course you know my middle name and I haven't the slightest clue of yours."

"P."

"P?" Mary broke their embrace and sat up to look down at her lover, confused, "your middle name is P?"

Zelda shrugged as she pulled the covers back up over her shoulders, "can't remember it. I was born a long time ago, my love."

"How long ago?" Mary tried to remember that she was not dealing with a mortal, but it took her off guard. 

"....1346," Zelda grinned, then pulled Mary back down, "stop asking questions to which you don't really want answers."

Mary blinked and stared up at the ceiling. That would make Zelda 673 years old. Talk about looking good for one's age. "But Zelda...wait. I have so many more questions!"

Zelda laughed out loud and reached under the covers to pinch Mary's thigh, then kissed her cheek, "You have five minutes before I have to get in the shower and wash you off my face. I'll answer as many as you can fit in that time frame."

Mary thought quickly, then fired them off at a rapid pace.

"Have you ever been married?"

"Once. For three days during the renaissance. Dreadful mistake. Well twice, if you count my most recent indiscretion."

"How many towns have you lived in?"

"Too many to count. With Hilda around we have a tendency to get - uh- kicked out."

"Have you ever had children?"

"No. That's not my lot in life. I care for the family that is brought to me."

"How old is Sabrina, truly?"

"Sixteen. Truly. We have yet to see how long she will live. Her mortal side complicates things." Zelda sighed, not wanting to think about that, then glanced over at the clock. "Times up, Mary. I've got to get ready for my first meeting of the day. Would you like to.... join the family for breakfast?" She asked hopefully, knowing everyone would be delighted to see her again. 

Mary thought about it, then hesitated. "Do you think they would find it weird, my all of the sudden being back?" 

Zelda placed a gentle kiss on her lips, then climbed out of bed. "I think they would all find it a great relief, your being back at our table. I can tell you with complete certainty that every single member of this family has missed your presence." 

"I uh.... if you don't think think it'll be too weird...." Mary contemplated, "I think I'd like to stay." 

Zelda tried to hide the delight on her face but did a poor job of it. She nodded as demurely as she could, then headed to the shower and magicked herself into a new set of clothes in the bathroom. While hidden away in the small room, she pulled some clothes for Mary and brought them out with her, looking perfectly coiffed and ready for the day. 

"Here," she mumbled as she held the clothes out to the woman, "they're yours. You left them- well, Lilith left them- last time she stayed over. I thought you might like some fresh clothes to put on." 

Mary stared at the transformation in disbelief. Zelda had only been in the bathroom for ten minutes. "Ok look, Zelda," she sighed, "this whole witch this is going to take some getting used to. It would take me at least an hour and a half to do what you just did in there, and I just don't really think that's all that fair."

Zelda rolled her eyes and laughed, then shook her head. "Good thing you're sleeping with a witch, isn't it?" She grinned. "All you have to do is ask. Hair up or down?"

"What do you mean?"

"Mary, do you want your hair up or down?" Zelda scoffed. Normally she wouldn't waste energy on doing magic on such simple things, much less with a mortal, but she had to admit it was sort of fun impressing Mary. 

Mary shrugged her shoulders and looked around. "Uhhh..... down? I guess?" 

Zelda nodded and in a moment Mary was transformed and in her new, old clothes, looking more like Lilith than she had in months. Zelda purposely kept the make up toned down and more like Mary's, but she'd purposely done her hair the way Lilith used to. She couldn't help it; she liked her hair done that way. "There we are, my love. Now, breakfast? I'm famished."

Mary stared at the mirror in shock, then let it go. Yes, this certainly would take some getting used to- but maybe loving a witch wasn't all strife and complication like she thought it would be. Maybe it did have its perks, after all. 

Hand in hand, the couple made their way down the stairs and into the kitchen to the breakfast table where Ambrose and Sabrina were in the middle of yet another lively argument about what, Zelda could only imagine. Zelda walked past Sabrina and kissed her roughly on the head, then nodded at her sister- the only one to notice that Mary had walked into the room behind her. 

Silently, Zelda handed Mary a cup of coffee just the way she liked it and offered her the chair next to hers at the head of the table. "Auntie Zee how bad is it really to kill someone else's familiar, say, if they kept you up all night screaming because someone locked them out of their room again?" 

Zelda rolled her eyes and took a sip of coffee, then took Mary by the hand and smiled at her. "I say don't kill the familiar, kill the teenaged witch who isn't responsible enough to care for the creature."

"Auntie Zee!" Sabrina protested, then looked up. "Miss Wardwell!" Sabrina jumped up from her place at the table and ran to hug her teacher around the neck, squeezing her tightly. 

"Good morning, Sabrina," Mary said shyly as she patted the girl's arms, doing her best to hug her back at the awkward angle.

"Wait- does this mean you two-" Ambrose quizzed his aunt without really quizzing her, afraid he'd have something thrown at his head. 

"Look," Zelda said seriously as she slid her cigarette holder into her index finger and placed a cigarette in it, "Mary knows everything that has happened, start to finish, starting with her relationship with Adam three years ago. It is our responsibility to keep filling in the details where she does not understand. It is my responsibility to keep her safe. But... yes. Things will, if she allows, go back to as they were between us." Zelda did her best to sound cold and confident in front of her family, but looked to Mary for reassurance. 

Mary reached for Zelda's hand and brought it to her lips, then smiled at the Spellman family, who were now all looking at her expectantly. "The things I learned last night were shocking- devastating, really. I certainly cannot say that I've even begun to process them... but what I did see last night was that you all, especially you, Sabrina, and your aunt Zelda, came to my aid again and again. I know that I am among family here, and that... well, that I am loved. If you'll all have me, I would very much like to continue where we left off."

Zelda did her best to ignore her misty eyes and lit her cigarette as a distraction, but Mary didn't miss them. She squeezed her thigh under the table and leaned in for a kiss instead. Blushing, Zelda held her cigarette to the side and obliged her. 

"To Mary Spellman," Ambrose jokingly raised his glass of orange juice, letting the woman know she was welcome. Everyone followed suit and cheered and Sabrina, above the rest, shouted, "to Mary Spellman, secretly my favorite auntie."

Zelda cheered with her family, then rolled her eyes and looked at Ambrose. "See what I mean? Kill the teenager." 

Mary smacked her in the arm, then laughed as she shook her head. "Maybe that's why you aren't the favorite."

"Don't make me rethink this so soon," Zelda chided, but couldn't help the smile on her lips. For the first time in months her family was whole again, and so was her heart.


	16. Chapter 16

Zelda descended the stairs of her home in a long black sleeveless gown, her red hair done in a perfectly coiffed updo, pearl earrings dangling from her earlobes. Her eyeliner was winged just so, her lips tinged a dark crimson. She was a sight to behold; the dress hugged every curve and her cleavage was nearly spilling out. Normally she wouldn't have tried so hard, but she wanted to impress Mary. "Sabrina, are you ready to go?" She called from the bottom of the stairs as she checked her phone, annoyed that her niece was running behind. 

"Coming!" Sabrina called as she bounded down the stairs in her red mini-dress, her platinum blonde curls swept up on her head. Her lips were tinged the same crimson as her aunt's; clearly they had gotten ready together. "Aunt Zee, you look beautiful. Miss Wardwell is going to be floored!" 

Zelda couldn't help the smirk that crossed her lips. Both she and Mary had been so busy at their respective schools they'd hardly seen each other for a week. She did hope her appearance would evoke some kind of reaction from her long lost girlfriend. "Thank you, Sabrina, you look lovely. Is Nicholas meeting you there?" 

Sabrina nodded as she followed her aunt out of the house, wrapping her arms around herself as they stepped into the chilly evening. They quickly loaded themselves into the car and off they went to Baxter high, making quick work of getting to the school. Once there, Zelda and Sabrina went their separate ways to find their respective significant others, Zelda quickly spotting Mary Wardwell amongst a group of teachers near the back of the school gymnasium. 

Mary was clad in a deep maroon, strapless tea length gown, the bodice hugging her petite frame as the bottom puffed out from her waist. A vintage treasure, no doubt, the gown fit her like a glove, as if it had been hand made especially for her. Her hair was swept back in soft waves, one side pinned loosely while the other flowed freely. Zelda stopped for a moment to take in the sight as Mary let her head fall backwards in laughter at something one of her teachers had said. It was an image Zelda wanted to remember forever; Mary perfectly done up, looking happier than she had ever seen her, laughing so hard she thought the woman might burst. 

"Hello," Zelda smiled politely as she greeted the group, joining them from behind Mary. 

Mary turned to spot her, then grinned from ear to ear, "Zelda, you made it!" She beamed, then grabbed her by the arm to pull her closer into the circle of teachers so she could introduce to her to everyone. "Zelda, this is James- he teaches history, he took over for me when I took the post as principal. This is Lisa, she teaches English. Jackie teaches Spanish, Joe teaches Algebra, Richard biology, and Kristen, Chemistry. Everyone this is my ah- Zelda Spellman, Sabrina Spellman's aunt. She helped to plan the dance and, uh, volunteered to chaperone this evening." 

Zelda's heart sank at the omission that she had come along as Mary's date- Mary's idea in the first place. "Ah, lovely to meet you all," She smiled pleasantly, nodding her head instead of extending her hand to each individual in the group. "Thank you all for doing such a marvelous job teaching our children."

Zelda did her best to listen to the chorus of compliments about her niece and the dance decorations, but truly, she heard none of it. Why had Mary lied about her? She raised an eyebrow as Richard, the biology teacher, placed a flirtatious hand on Mary's wrist. "if you'll all excuse me, I think I'll get myself a drink."

Mary nodded and smiled at her, but didn't make any effort to follow the woman who had so clearly made a tremendous effort to be with her for the evening. Fuming, Zelda stalked off to the drinks table and poured herself a cup of punch, then pulled the small flask from her cleavage and spiked it with whiskey. She was glad she'd thought better of not bringing her trusty flask. Bitterly, she watched on as Mary continued to talk and laugh with her colleagues, Richard slinking closer and closer to her as the moments wore on. 

Was this some kind of joke to Mary? Was... she some kind of joke to Mary? Who was this Richard idiot, and was Zelda going to have to murder him in his sleep? Zelda rolled her eyes and downed the punch, then made herself another as she felt her blood curdling in her veins. How dare Mary make such a mockery of her. She was Zelda fucking Spellman, high priestess of the church of Lilith, resident bitch of Greendale- no one hid her. She would simply have to do something about it. Having made up her mind, Zelda sauntered back to the group and inserted herself between Mary and Richard, resting a hand dangerously low on the principal's back.

"Mary, darling, I know that we have to stay until the end of the evening but the family has asked if you'll be joining us at home," she purred as she asked the question, looking pointedly at Richard as it came out of her mouth. 

"Home, Zelda?" Mary nearly choked as she took a drink of her own punch then spit it back into her cup, her cheeks immediately flushing. 

"Yes, home, darling. Where we sleep, together," she smiled wickedly at Richard, "it's just that we are leaving awfully early tomorrow morning to go apple picking as Sabrina requested and I know that, as of our last little planning session at the breakfast table this morning, you were still planning to join us, my love."

Zelda felt Mary tense in her arms, but she didn't much care at the moment. If Mary had wanted to keep her a secret they should have spoken about that beforehand. Mary should have warned her what she was walking into, not thrown her to the wolves like some secret fascination to be discarded until it suited her again. 

"I...." Mary looked around the small group, who were all smiles except for Richard, then reached for Zelda's hand to kiss it, "Yes darling, we can go back home together when the dance is over. That way we can all go in one car tomorrow." 

Zelda quickly pecked Mary on the lips, then beamed at Richard. That would be the last time he hit on her girlfriend. "Wonderful, I'll go quickly let Sabrina know."

Zelda walked away before she lost all her nerve, quickly escorting herself into the hallway, Mary on her heels. As soon as the door was closed behind them Mary exhaled loudly, hands on her hips. "Care to explain what the fuck that was, Zelda Spellman?"

Zelda laughed, low and wicked as she turned to face the woman behind her. "Care to explain what the fuck deciding to keep me as your dirty little secret at the last minute was, Mary Wardwell?"

Mary rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, immediately defensive. "I am at work, Zelda, and I didn't know if you were ready for me to shout it from the rooftops if we were involved or not. I was trying to be mindful of your wishes."

"Oh please," Zelda scoffed, "my wishes? Haven't I made my wishes perfectly clear to you? Did I not get dressed up for your silly little ball when I could have been at home or, better yet, running my own academy? And yet you parade me around as your friend while some disgusting mortal puts his filthy little paws all over you?"

"Excuse me," Mary warned as she stepped closer to Zelda, "but I am also one of those disgusting mortals." Mary couldn't help herself; she found it remarkably attractive when Zelda lost her temper. "I'm.... sorry, Zelda. I didn't realize the effort you put in to be here. I didn't mean anything by it."

"Thank you," Zelda muttered as she leaned against the lockers, trying to keep her hands off of Mary. "I don't like that man."

"I noticed," Mary laughed, "I've never seen you jealous, my dear."

"I was not jealous," Zelda protested, leaning on her hands, "he simply needs to learn his place- which is nowhere near my- uh- you."

"Nowhere near your what?" Mary took another step towards Zelda, pushing her hips into the younger woman's. "What am I, Zelda?" 

"Oh for Lilith's sake," Zelda muttered as she tried to resist the woman, "stop being a fool."

Mary kissed Zelda once, then twice, as she reached her hands behind the woman's back to intertwine their fingers, "your girlfriend? Is that what I am?"

Zelda stared the woman in the eyes, then smiled. "Is that what you want to be, you silly woman?" 

Mary kissed her again, this time long and hard, then nodded. "I think I do."

"Then yes, you wicked little thing. I guess you are." Zelda finally pulled her arms out from behind her and wrapped them around Mary's waist, pulling her in as tightly as she could before she kissed her again. Maybe going back to high school wasn't so bad after all, but she couldn't wait to get Mary home. 

Finally, Mary broke their kiss and sighed. "I suppose we should get back in there before someone catches their principal making out in the hallway.... but Zelda... what do you say you and I stay at my place tonight instead? Where we can be truly alone?"

The thought sparked a warmth between Zelda's thighs that she knew would stay with her the rest of the night. "I'll have to make arrangements for Sabrina to get home and I haven't brought anything to sleep in, but I'm sure that can all be worked out, my love, if you want to."

Mary smiled as she took Zelda by the hand and walked back toward the doors of the gymnasium. "Oh Zelda," she chided playfully, "you won't need anything to sleep in."

Zelda let the thought wash over her as Mary pulled back into the loud dance. Even the obnoxious pop music couldn’t drown out the things going through her head at the moment. Suddenly, she couldn't wait for the dance to be over.


	17. Chapter 17

Zelda followed silently behind Mary, their hands clasped together, as the older woman led her up the walk to her house. Zelda had let Sabrina drive her car home in a rare moment of generosity and eagerness to get home with Mary. Now that she was with her, officially her girlfriend, Zelda felt uncharacteristically shy. She stood by quietly as Mary struggled with her keys in the darkness, remembering in her head how she had struggled with the very same door not so long who when Mary was ill. She suppressed a smile at the memory; not that Mary had been ill, but at how much she had loved the woman even then. 

Zelda's life had been nothing short of a roller coaster for the last year. First, she thought she had fallen in love with a mortal; not short of an unforgivable sin in her book. She hadn't meant to care for Mary Wardwell at all when the woman started coming around last year. In fact, Zelda had been pretty dead set on both disliking and distrusting the woman. Slowly but surely Lilith, under the guise of Mary's body, had worked her way not only in to Zelda's affections but into her bed. They had lived that way quite blissfully for nearly five and a half months before Zelda found out the truth and Mary Wardwell was ripped from her arms. Loving Lilith was a whole new game. Sure it was still Mary's body, but Zelda felt differently. She had fallen for Lilith, too, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was a lot of her beloved Mary in those few few months together with Lilith. Perhaps it was denial; maybe Mary really had been dead and gone those months and she was simply missing who she thought she was.... the whole thing confused her. She had never truly been with Mary. It had always been Lilith, and yet she knew Mary- this Mary- with all her quirks and peculiarities so well. 

Mary looked back at Zelda and smiled as the door finally swung open. The paused for a moment on her front porch, suspended in time. This would be the last moment before the rest of their lives together. Sure it wasn't a marriage, but it felt like one in Zelda's heart. Mary was finally freely hers and tonight they would be together; no tragedies or deaths or odd circumstances. Just love. 

"Are you alright, Zelda?" Mary asked quietly as she led her girlfriend into the living room and discarded her keys on the table by the door, closing it behind them. 

"Perfectly so," Zelda smiled back demurely, looking around the dimly lit room. She already knew the space like the back of her hand but tonight it felt different... better. Kinder. "And you?"

Mary's answer came in the form of her hands in Zelda's hair, pulling it roughly out of the coiffed updo, pins hitting the hardwood floor as they escaped the red curls. Her lips were on Zelda's, rough and wet and hot, like she needed the woman with everything in her right then and there. Zelda smirked against her lips, the heat between her thighs returning as she felt the woman press her body into her. "Perfectly fine," Mary grumbled between kisses as she reached her hands behind Zelda's back to search for the zipper on her gown, tugging at it to get it undone as quickly as she could once she found it. 

Zelda humored Mary for a moment and allowed her to practically rip the zipper down her back and tug the dress down her arms, but then she stopped the woman, stepped slowly away from her as the gown pooled at her feet. "Darling, what has gotten in to you?" She questioned, a mockingly sweet tone in her voice as she bent down carefully, still balancing in her tall, black stilettos, to pick the dress up off the floor. When she stood again Mary nearly lost her breath at the sight in front of her; Zelda was clad in a pair of black thigh high stockings held up by a matching lace garter belt and high waisted shorts. Her bra, of course, coordinated perfectly, the deep color of the garments a stunning contrast to her pale skin. "If you don't slow down you miss the details, my dear," Zelda smirked as she tossed the dress on the back of Mary's favorite chair and sauntered further away from her lover to help herself to a finger of whiskey. 

Zelda couldn't help but think to herself that Mary had denied her earlier; that she had introduced her as a friend- and now the woman couldn't keep her hands off of her. Part of it still stung a little, and perhaps teasing her was childish, but Zelda had always had a taste for a little playful revenge. She quirked an eyebrow as she kicked out of her shoes and poured Mary a drink in her own home, then breezed past the woman and kissed her on the cheek as she handed her the drink and made her way to the couch to sit, one long leg elegantly crossed over the other. "You look crestfallen my dear, close your mouth and come join me for a conversation," she smiled as she brought the crystal rocks glass to her lips and threw one arm over the back of the couch. 

Mary debated upon whether to take her own dress off in the middle of the living room or to simply go back to her bedroom and change into a pair of yoga pants and a t shirt. What sort of game was Zelda Spellman playing and why had she just stopped her in the middle of trying to make love to her? "I- but- alright," Mary muttered, confused, then kicked her own stilettos off and perched in her favorite chair across from the woman, sitting on the gown. If she wasn't going to touch her she could at least smell her perfume surrounding her via her discarded clothing. 

"Are you happy with the dance, principal Wardwell?" Zelda asked as she relaxed on the couch in her lingerie, doing her best not to stare at her girlfriend while she feigned an innocent, pleasant conversation. 

"I am," Mary muttered back, annoyed by the game Zelda seemed to want to play, then brought her own glass to her crimson stained lips. The crimson was from Zelda's lipstick; Mary had opted for a softer mauve shade to suit her gown that evening. "I think it was well planned and executed and the students seemed to enjoy it, which is the only thing that truly matters about a high school dance, Zelda."

Zelda set her glass down on the coffee table, a mischievous gleam in her eye, then slid off the couch and onto the floor. "Is it, Mary? Is it the only thing that truly matters?" She purred as she inched toward the woman on all fours, her hair falling in her face as she moved, slow and seductive. 

Mary felt the breath leave her chest as Zelda came closer, but not close enough to touch her. "Yes, Zelda, it is...." she groaned as she watched the woman reach behind her back to unhook her own bra, then discard it on the floor next to her. 

"There's nothing else that happened this evening that matters a little more than a high school dance, Mary?" Zelda smirked as she finally reached Mary and slid the palms of her hands up her legs, starting at her ankles and making her way all the way up until they were resting on the tops of her thighs under her dress, stroking the edge of her underwear. 

"I mean...." Mary swallowed hard. She was having a hard time forming thoughts. All she could focus on was the beauty of the woman between her thighs. Her face and chest suddenly felt tight and flush and the first few pricks of sweat began to form on the back of her neck. If Zelda's goal was to completely undo her then she was doing a marvelous job. "I uh...."

"You know what they say about school dances," Zelda murmured against the inside of Mary's thigh as she placed a gentle kiss just above her knee to encourage her legs to open, "there's a whole host of fun things to do after they're over." Before Mary had the chance to respond Zelda hooked her index fingers in the edge of Mary's underwear and tugged them down around her waist under the dress, encouraging her to lift her hips so she could pull them completely off. 

"Zelda Spellman," Mary eyed the woman on the ground teasing her, "you're a wicked, wicked woman."

Zelda ignored the comment; instead, she pushed Mary's dress up and continued her divine assault on her thighs, peppering them with kisses and sharp nibbles as she worked her away across the landscape of her lap and dangerously close to her center. "Am I?" She questioned as she dug her nails into her flesh as she pressed her legs farther apart, admiring the view it provided her, "I try. I could stop, of course. Friends tend not to do this sort of thing together, after all." 

Before Mary could argue Zelda parted her folds with two fingers and teased her clit with her tongue, causing Mary to gasp loudly. Zelda held her thighs in place as she worked her center, Mary arching her back against the chair as she taunted her. 

"You're not going to let that go are you," she moaned as she raked her fingers through Zelda's hair and pulled it, eliciting a low moan from the woman buried between her legs. Zelda shook her head in response, enjoying herself too much to argue back, and slid two fingers inside her girlfriend. Mary rested her head on the back of the chair and let her body slide forward toward the edge, closer to Zelda, as she felt the pleasure begin to take hold. Afraid of what the woman might do if she pulled her hair too hard, Mary opted to grip the arms of the chair instead, her knuckles turning white as she focused on the feeling of Zelda's mouth on her. 

"My- fu-Zel-" she gasped as her vision went dark, stars bursting behind her eyelids as Zelda curled her fingers upwards and thrust deep and slow. Zelda sat up to watch Mary, a devilish smirk on her face as the woman cried out for the loss of her mouth on her body. 

"Did you want me to stop? Is this not appropriate for friends to be doing together, principal Wardwell?" Zelda whispered in Mary's ear as she pressed her body against hers and then sucked the pulse point on her neck as she thrust into her again, this time deeper, then again, and again, as the woman writhed beneath her. Mary reached between them and grabbed Zelda's hand to steady it as her lips parted and she panted, exhausted. 

"Zelda," she finally muttered, her eyes still closed, her girlfriend's fingers still inside of her, "that was...."

"Yes, my darling?" Zelda asked innocently as she rested her head against Mary's chest, satisfied with her efforts to undo the woman. 

"Remind me to make you angry more often," Mary laughed, then kissed her in the center of her forehead, against her hairline. They lie together quietly for a moment as Mary caught her breath until Zelda slowly, gently removed her fingers.

"Zelda," Mary said seriously, using her index finger to lift her chin, "I'm very sorry for the way that came across tonight... I didn't mean it the way that it came out. "

Zelda kept their eye contact and nodded. She never had been good at this part of making up. "Thank you," she muttered quietly, then pulled away from Mary entirely. "It's fine. Subject dropped." She knew her response was short, but she didn't want to discuss it anymore. Zelda had never been good at the talking part of relationships, and she didn't have any intention of start to work on it now. 

Mary rolled her eyes and popped Zelda playfully in the ass with the back of her hand as she walked toward the couch, which caused the woman to jump. "I beg your pardon?" Zelda had one eyebrow raised in an attempt to look angry as she turned to look at her over her shoulder, but Mary couldn't take her seriously when she was topless and in lingerie.

"You put it in my face," she laughed as she stood from the chair and straightened her dress, then reached for Zelda's hand, "and it's mine and I wanted to."

"Just because it's yours does not mean that you can-"

Mary cut Zelda off by pulling her in and kissing her quickly on the lips. "Shut up, Zelda. You've already admitted it's mine. That's all I wanted to hear."

"For Lilith's- you are the most infuriating woman on this entire forsaken planet," Zelda muttered, but couldn't hide the laughter in her tone. She gave in and wrapped her arms around Mary's shoulders as the older woman brushed her hair off her forehead. 

"I know, you tell me at least once per day, but I'm your infuriating woman," Mary smirked. "And I would like to take you to bed if you'll let me." When Zelda didn't argue, Mary intertwined their hands and led her to the bedroom, flipping the switch when they arrived so they could see.

"I uh...." she smiled as she caught sight of Zelda again, who seemed to have caught a moment of shyness as she stood at her normal side of the bed and Mary worked on pulling the pins out of her hair at her small vanity on her side, "honey if you want pajamas I assume that you already know where they are. You don't have to stay in that." Mary thought she looked beautiful but knew that she'd be uncomfortable after the moment had passed had she been dressed the same way. 

Relieved, Zelda nodded and automatically went to the third drawer of Mary's dresser to grab a night gown- one of her own- and slipped it over her head before she began working on removing the contraption on the lower half of her body. 

"I'm not even going to ask," Mary sighed, half exasperated, half amused. For some of the most powerful witches in the history of the world they really hadn't thought the whole putting Mary's house right again thing through. A pang of regret flashed through her chest as she watched Zelda in the mirror; she wished she could remember the moments they'd had. What was it like the first night Zelda had stayed over and didn't know where anything was? Was she shy- more so than she was being now? Had they made love or simply sat up talking late into the night? Was it natural for Zelda to choose her side of the bed or had she wanted Mary's? There was so much Zelda knew that Mary didn't, but she didn't want to drive the woman crazy with twenty more questions. 

"Left it here," Zelda blushed as she folded the garter belt, stockings, and underwear on top of one another and placed them on the dresser, then went to task combing her fingers through her hair sprayed hair. "There's a lot of my things here, actually. I'm sort of glad we're seeing each other again simply to get them back." 

Mary shot her a glare across the bedroom and shook her head. "Brings a whole to meaning to my home is your home, but alright. Will you get me out of this dress, please?" She muttered, pointing to the zipper on her gown. She'd meant her comment as a joke, but couldn't help the hint of bitterness in her voice. She felt robbed. 

Zelda moved toward her girlfriend and grinned as she worked the zipper down her back, running her hands against her smooth skin as the material dropped to the floor to reveal that she wasn't wearing a bra. Zelda knew the details of her skin by heart, and she loved every bit of it. "We can pretend like I don't have my things here- and that I don't know your house. I can send you on a scavenger hunt for my things instead since you've such an affection for games, love," Zelda quipped as Mary stepped out of her dress and she bent to grab it off the floor. 

"Would you wash your face and get in bed already?" Mary laughed as she grabbed pajamas- a pair of silk sleep shorts and a matching tank top- out of the drawer from which Zelda had retrieved her nightgown and slipped into them. She sighed as she clipped her hair in a bun on top of her head and popped her contacts out of her eyes, then searched, half blind, for her glasses on her night stand. "It'll just take some getting used to," Mary said seriously as she moved toward the bathroom attached to her bedroom. 

The two women went through their nightly routine together, washing their faces, brushing their teeth (Zelda with the toothbrush she knew she had in the medicine cabinet, much to Mary's wonder and dismay), and finally crawling into bed and switching the lights off. 

Zelda lie flat on her back in Mary's bed, the brunette curled up on her side in the crook of her arm. Suddenly, words escaped them. For Zelda, the air in the room felt heavy. Foreboding. Everything exactly as it shouldn't feel in Mary's house with Mary safely entangled in her arms. She hoped Mary would drift off to sleep quickly, but there would be no such luck. 

Neither could quite describe it, but Mary felt it, too. What was it, this strange magic in the air, that suddenly made this feel a little less right than it should? Zelda held Mary a little tighter and said a silent prayer to Lilith, begging her to stop whatever trickery she was up to. Lilith could do what she pleased with Zelda, but hadn't Mary been through enough? She felt the answer in the pit of her stomach; Lilith could do as she pleased, when she pleased. 

"Mary," Zelda whispered in the darkness as she searched for her hand and intertwined their fingers. 

"Mmmm," Mary muttered back, pretending to be half asleep. She wasn't in the mood to talk anymore. 

"I.... I'm sorry this is all so complicated." Zelda's voice was soft and warm, not its usual harsh and cold. She sounded twenty years younger in an instant and Mary knew showing her this particular side was new for both of them, "I never meant for this to happen. I really thought...."

Zelda went quiet as she felt the weight of Mary's head increase on her chest. The woman wasn't even listening. 

After a long moment of silence, Mary squeezed her hand. "I'm listening, Zelda. Please continue."

Zelda felt like she'd lost her nerve, but now her choice was gone. "I really thought when I fell in love with you that it was you. That this would be.... simple." Zelda felt the tears burning hot behind her eye lids. She hadn't spoken about her feelings to anyone, or even really recognized them herself. "By the time Lilith revealed what she had done I was already far too in love with you... or what I thought was you to leave. I felt so.... betrayed. Much how I can imagine you must feel now. I supposed I'd just like you to know that I understand. And if you'd like me to come around tomorrow and collect my things so that we can truly start fresh, I will."

"That's not what I want at all," Mary smiled in the darkness as she brought Zelda's hands to her lips, "tomorrow morning I want to make a pot of coffee and I want you to pull each thing of yours out and tell me how it got here. What we were doing, how it happened. I know that I wasn't here but.... I feel like I've loved you for a long time, Zelda."

Zelda blinked and the tears fell. She hated crying. She tried to sniffle as quietly as she could, then leaned deeper into Mary and kissed her temple. "And I know that I've loved you for a long time," she said warmly, then wrapped her arms tighter around her. 

"Let's go to sleep, honey," Mary whispered as she turned on her side and cuddled, full faced, into Zelda's chest, "we'll worry about the rest tomorrow."

Zelda knew Lilith was up to something, but she was willing to believe the lie that it could wait until tomorrow.


	18. Chapter 18

Zelda stood in the middle of the embalming room, her hair tied up in a high ponytail, reading glasses perched on her face, clad in a pair of tight black leggings and a long black t shirt. No one was allowed to see her like this, but she had a long day of embalming and preparing bodies ahead of her. If she was honest, this was her favorite part of the job. There was something therapeutic about spending time with her subjects, lovingly preparing them for their final rest. Ambrose did much of the work but when they were overloaded Zelda was the first to step in. Her sister truly couldn't stand the sight of a dead body and Sabrina was still too young to involve herself in the inner workings of the family business. 

"Alright, wee one," Zelda muttered as she looked over her instruments on the cold steel tray next to her, a series of scalpels and scissors spread out as if she were set to perform an operation. Zelda took a sip of her tea and set it down, then checked the toe tag. "Oh for fucks sake," she mumbled under her breath and rolled her eyes. Hilda had brought her the wrong body. Again. 

"Hiiiiiiiildaaaaaaaaaaaaa," she screamed up the stairs, knowing she wouldn't have to do it twice to get her sister down there. Within moments her little sister appeared at the bottom of the stairs, ringing her hands nervously. Clad in a flannel top and jeans, her short blonde curls perfectly coiffed, the younger woman was a stark contrast to the redhead standing in the middle of the embalming room with her hands on her hips. "Yes sister?" She asked pleasantly.

"Hilda what do you think would happen if tomorrow afternoon at the viewing the Anderson's walked in to tell their mother goodbye and it was Mrs. Walker instead? Do you think they would be pleased?" Zelda spat as she scratched her head with one hand and returned to her tea cup, leaning against the counter behind the body. She motioned down to Mrs. Walker on the table with her head, then rolled her eyes again. 

"Honest mistake?" Hilda muttered as she shrugged her shoulders, then began to move Mrs. Walker aside. "Is it, Hilda? Is it an honest mistake? Do you Have Mrs. Walkers arrangement file mistaken for Mrs. Anderson's too? Is the chain of custody confused? Have we filed their personal affects incorrectly? Honestly Hilda you have one job in this mortuary, could you please try to do it correctly?"

"Someone didn't sleep well last night," Hilda groaned as she wheeled Mrs. Walker out of the way, a chill running up her spine as the temperature in the room cooled her down to her bones. How Zelda worked in the embalming room in only a t shirt she would never understand. It was always freezing and her older sister acted like it was a nice, balmy day. 

"I slept just fine, thank you, and you can keep your comments to yourself," Zelda snapped as she waited for the new body. That was a lie, but her sister didn't need to know that. She hadn't slept well at all; she had dreamt of Lilith all night long. Strange dreams of Lilith with Eve. Violent dreams of Lilith with the dark lord. Horrible dreams of the sacrifices she would have to make with Mary. Bizarre dreams about who Mary really was. She was utterly exhausted and uncomfortable and wished she had never spent the night with Mary in the first place. 

"Alright, alright," Hilda snapped back, "here's your body you old grouch, take your anger out on that." Hilda wheeled the body in front of her sister and sighed, double checking the toe tag and then handing the appropriate forms to her sister. Zelda laughed at the comment and roughly kissed her sister on the side of the head before she, too, moved to double check the toe tag. If anyone outside heard them they'd think they hated one another, but that was simply how Zelda and Hilda communicated. Spending six hundred years with one's sister left a lot of room for bickering. 

"Hilda...." Zelda caught her sister's attention as she began to walk away.

"Yes sister?" The younger woman turned, wishing she could just go back to the kitchen to finish what she was baking.

"What do you think of.... Lilith and Eve?"

"I hadn't given the two much thought in context of one another, why?"

Zelda paused for a moment, then shook her head. "No reason. Just... a passing thought I had this morning. I'm being silly."

Hilda moves back to the side of her sister as Zelda propped Mrs. Anderson's head gently on a head rest and began her initial evaluation of her condition. She noted her skin condition, state of rigor mortis, any tissue gas before she began planning how she'd embalm the woman. 

"Doesn't sound silly, Zelda. Sounds like a message from our Queen, if you ask me." Hilda watched her sister, always fascinated by her process.

Slowly, Zelda began removing her clothing and personal affects and taking careful inventory as she spoke with her sister, sliding her glasses back up her nose every once in a while. "I had a dream last night about Mary. Several dreams, actually, and given that Mary practically beat me in her sleep I think she probably had them, too," Zelda sighed as she placed a modesty cloth over the old woman and began washing down the body with germicidal soap. 

"Beat you?" Hilda laughed as she leaned against the counter, "she's already taken to beating you in her sleep? It usually takes a couple of months before your significant others are that angry with you, Zelds."

Zelda rolled her eyes as she began to massage an arm to work out the rigor mortis, her own arms sore from her evening's activities the night before. "Not the point, Hildy, and I didn't do anything to deserve it! I'm telling you, these dreams...." she stopped to ponder them for a moment as she laid the first arm to rest and worked her away across to the other, working out the stiffness. "I dreamt that Mary- my sweet Mary was Eve, Hilda. And that Eve and Lilith were.... one in the same. Sisters or....something of some sort."

Hilda felt the unease take hold in her stomach. Zelda was in so far over her head. Her sister was a powerful witch, but she was quite literally dancing with the devil. Mary Wardwell was Eve? And Eve was Lilith's sister? "Sisters? In the literal sense? Like you and I are sisters?"

"I don't know," Zelda muttered as she worked her hands down the deceased woman's thigh. She'd done this so many times to so many bodies it didn't occur to her how intimate a gesture it was, or that she'd done the very same thing to Mary's the night before with a completely different tone. "It.... they're linked, somehow. Intimately. Sexually I'm not sure? Romantically perhaps? Sisterly most definitely. She's the devil, Hilda, you know all of those things can be linked without question. I don't know what it means... but I do know that she is trying to tell me something about Mary. And I think she was trying to tell Mary, too."

"May I ask you something, sister?" Hilda said quietly, standing up straight now as she did her best to keep her courage up.

"Of course." Zelda wasn't paying attention to her sister at all; she'd already turned back to the task in front of her. 

"Are you concerned on the part of the church because of what it could mean for our religion or are you concerned because you're in love and you want to protect her?"

Zelda nearly dropped Mrs. Anderson's entire leg as her sister finished her question. Couldn't she be both? Couldn't she be a prudent and reasonable high priestess and also in love with and concerned for Mary? "I.... both?" Zelda muttered, completely taken aback. "I don't know. I hate to.... sound like Edward...."

"That was my thought," Hilda sighed, her heart nearly stopping in her chest. "Zelda you must be careful. We know that Edward's accident was no accident. Your husband may no longer be a problem, but there are still many people left from the church of night who would like to see your head on a platter. You cannot let your love for Mary cloud your judgment as the leader of the church of Lilith. I say that with all of the love in my heart for you, sister, and for Mary."

Zelda gently set Mrs. Anderson's leg down on the slab and stared at her sister for a long moment, then nodded. "You're right, Hilda. Thank you." She moved to hug her sister, then quickly got back to work. "Shall we have a meeting this evening? We can discuss this more after I get through these bodies. I think I need to stay home tonight... clear my head of that insufferable woman."

"I think you got insufferable mixed up with intoxicating but alright," Hilda teased her sister, then nodded, "after dinner?" 

Zelda rolled her eyes, but nodded. "Yes, after dinner."

Hilda quickly left the room to let her sister get back to work in peace. She knew her sister required silence and solitude when she was embalming and preparing bodies. Zelda was nothing if not a master of ceremony and she felt it was disrespectful not to give her clients her undivided attention as she prepares them for burial. 

"It's just you and me, Lettie," Zelda said affectionately to the woman on the table as she closed her eyes with the eye cap and began to suture her mouth closed. She could've used a needle injector and wire, but Zelda preferred the fine detail that hand sewing allowed her to master. "I will miss you, my friend," she muttered as she carefully set the woman's features from memory. That was the danger of doing this business in a small town like Greendale; one wound up preparing many of their friends in death. 

As Zelda began the embalming process she couldn't get her mind off of Lilith. Why couldn't the woman just tell her what was going on? Why couldn't she just reveal the plan? Had Zelda really only been a fun little pawn in her game? Had the entire nine months they were together really all been a lie?

Zelda felt her stomach lurch as she made the first incision just above Lettie's navel. She never enjoyed cutting her friends apart, despite how respectful she tried to make the process. She looked up at the ceiling as she shoved the trocar into the woman's abdominal and chest cavity and began to aspirate their contents. Just as the process began, Mary appeared at the bottom of the embalming room stairs. 

Zelda nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw her. "Mary?" She questioned, unsure of whether it was actually her or Lilith, as she quickly ripped her reading glasses off her face and moved around the slab to try and hide Lettie's body. 

Mary's stomach turned at the sight of the body on the table, but she had to speak to Zelda. She was taken aback momentarily by how sweet the woman looked in her casual clothes, then remembered their setting and stopped herself. She couldn't help herself around Zelda; even in the middle of a mortuary the woman made her heart beat harder. "I'm sorry- I know you're working honey but I-"

"How did you even get down here?" Zelda questioned as she covered Lettie with a sheet and pulled her gloves off, then motioned for Mary to follow her into another part of the room. Zelda felt deeply self conscious in her leggings and t shirt; her dresses and perfectly tailored outfits were her amor, as was her perfectly done hair. She didn't like Mary seeing her this way. 

"Hilda let me in, and I just remembered where to go, oddly," Mary muttered, "but this thing... this...Lilith." Mary looked visibly upset. She wasn't doing a great job of holding herself together if she was trying. 

Zelda moved to her girlfriend to wrap her arms around her and held her close. "Forgive the formaldehyde smell," Zelda laughed, then kissed her on the forehead, "what happened, Mary?" 

"I'm so confused, Zelda. She.... came to me this morning, while I was in my office at school. All she said was praise Lilith and the unholy trinity, and then she was gone." Mary rested her head on Zelda's shoulder for a moment, then gave up and pulled away, "god, you do stink."

"Thanks, darling," Zelda laughed and rolled her eyes, then sighed. "Alright.... Alright." Zelda had three bodies to do, still. She needed to focus on that. "I.... think that we should sit down and talk about this. Can you hang out upstairs until I finish what I've got to do down here? I don't want you to leave the house. You can use my office if you need to work, or you can go in my room and nap or Hilda will talk your ear off if you'd like to sit in the kitchen. Make yourself at home but please, do not leave this house. I'll be done in a few hours and then we'll talk."

Mary nodded in understanding. Not leaving the house was for her protection. "Dating you is so weird," she sighed, then kissed Zelda on the lips. "I'll be in your office grading papers." 

"You're really working the compliments today Mary," Zelda chided, then kissed her one more time, "thank you for being patient."

"Do I have a choice?" Mary asked seriously as she searches Zelda's eyes for an answer. Zelda looked back at her, the sadness apparent. She wished she could fix everything for the woman, but she was powerless against Lilith and always had been. After a moment, Mary nodded and walked back up the stairs, leaving Zelda alone with her body. It would have to do for now. 

"Oh Lettie..." Zelda sighed as she felt the tears burning behind her eyes, "why can't I fix this?"  
She turned the sheet back down off her body and returned to to the task of embalming the woman. "At least I can fix you, love. We'll make your beautiful for your girls tomorrow. Just like you looked before you got sick. I promise."

Zelda reached for the woman's hand and held it for a moment as the process went on. Life and death and life again. That was the process she watched in this room every day. It wasn't easy to see her friends come in on her slab, but it was easier down here than upstairs at her own kitchen table. At least she could fix what came in on her slab. At least she was in control down here.


End file.
